God's power - only love

Hey, I was catching up on my devotional reading this morning, yeah "my bad"...I read where Philip Yancey has joined the writers of Our Daily Bread. Cool Beans, I thought, I love his writing. Well, I have been thinking all day about how he writes simply but deeply about the things of God.

Hear it now. He was writing on the ability of God's choice to curb His own power. Think on the following and see if you aren't amazed at this principle of God's restraint. If you read Luke 4:3,9-11, you will be reading about the temptation Christ faced after his 40 days of fasting. The final proofs that we often yearn for or like the Pharisees demanded (Matt. 12:38; 16:1)offer no obstacle to an omnipotent God. Here's the kicker that made me go WOW "More amazing is His refusal to perform, to overwhelm. God's terrible insistence on human freedom is so absolute that He granted us the power to live as though He does not exist. Jesus must have known this as He faced the tempter in the desert, focusing His power on the energy of restraint."

He continues to mention that no "pyrotechnic displays of omnipotence will achieve the response He desires...only love can summon a response of love....Love has its own power-the only power capable of conquering the human heart."

Wrap your mind around this and then your heart, fall in love with God anew. There's nothing like it.

Discipline

My husband, Len, and I have committed to change our lifestyle disciplines. Namely, eating and exercise habits. It's challenging and some days are harder than others. We are in the 4th week of our new program. Fortunately, we are reaping some of the benefits already it brings us together more, we are eating healthier, dropping some weight, and feeliing better. Oh there's aches and pains and sometimes complaining going on...I think that's normal. No one likes change no matter how often you go through it. It's still difficult to embrace.

It's always difficult when you first begin to change disciplines. You seem to be working on everything you do. You realize what a mess you were and see that priorities must change and this is difficult work.

I see how that can relate in our intimate walk with God too. You must set your mind to rethinking how to live your life before God. Old patterns have to be broken and your priorities must change. You find that you must process life through a different filter. You know the outcome is going to be better but you're experiencing some aches and pains in the process.

Romans 12:2
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Your not alone or the only one going through the aches and pains of change. We may be at different levels but we're all in the process.
Don't give up, stay encouraged and press on.

Huddle Laughter

This morning during huddle time with The ReignForest volunteers I shared about a 30 day spiritual journey book I had just completed, well it took me 60 days to complete it. I got stuck on Day 26 - "Idolatry" for two weeks and the rest of the days took another 2 weeks.

It seemed that there was something wrong with me, I just couldn't get past my adultery. I continued speaking that I kept asking God "what is wrong with me, what is keeping me from this breakthrough, what idols am I putting before God". It was at that moment, I realized I had used adultery rather than idolatry. They got it, and started laughing and I said, "no not adultery - idolatry". It was rather funny. If anyone was dozing in the huddle - they were wide awake now. We all laughed and I was glad to be able to bring light hearted laughter to the team. They are great volunteers and I share with them with such transparency of my life because I want them to be encouraged to go deeper on their journey too. God has shown me that even though He deals with me firmly in areas of my life there is also a gentleness that draws me closer to him.

Later that hour my friend Suzanne mentioned to me how God told the Israelites they had committed adultery by leaving their first love of God and turning to idols so I wasn't exactly wrong in saying adultery. Thanks Suzanne.

Here's what encouraged me; eight people are interested in getting the book I just finished. This book sent me into the Word of God and to my knees. It was deep God country.

Filtering your life through the truth of God's Word is painful. I'm not perfect..far from perfect. But I'd like to look more like Christ so that's going to require more journey time, more breakthroughs.

Acceleration

Acceleration is a transitive verb with one meaning of a: to enable (a student) to complete a course in less than usual time b: to speed up (as a course of study). Well that's the journey I thought I was on until a month ago. I had been doing this spiritual journey book by Dr. Bruce Wilkinson. It's the second time I've read the book. I had been sharing in huddletime in The ReignForest that I've been stuck on the last three days but actually it was Day 26 of the book entitled "Keep Yourself from Idols". Whatever takes our hearts from him, or shares it with him, is an idol. There are three species of idolatry: 1)desire of the flesh - refers to all the outward senses; 2)desire of the eye - gratified by such objects as either grand or beautiful or uncommon and 3)"the pride of life" - seeking happiness in the praise of men or "taking care of our reputation". While trying to find the idols in my life I prayed the prayer "God remove anything from my life that takes me from knowing you more intimately, if it is pride remove it or rout it out." Ahh...dangerous prayer - almost as dangerous as praying for patience. So the past ~30 days I had been doing soul searching about idols in my life.

Speed up to this past week-end. I had a lesson..uhm "a God moment" in my flower garden. I was trying to remove a little wild tree/shrub thingie that was developing in my garden. I wanted to chop it out. I went to the shed to get the ax but couldn't find one but found an ax pick instead. Well, that'll do. There I am wielding this big thing swinging the pick into the ground to get to the bottom of this stubborn root. As I swing and strike deeper into the ground I'm saying to myself "Man this thing is deep-just how deep do I have to go?" and suddenly there was the picture before me and the softness of a familiar inner voice "Your pride is just like that root and that's why your stuck and you're experiencing so much pain lately." gulp... God moments don't always make you stop in your tracks and lights go on well at least this one wasn't like that. It seemed like this one kept low and started grower brighter and clearer until - the lights are fully on.

Here's the reality...I had cried for something to be revealed, my sinfulness, disobedience, guiltiness so that I could be discovered and be made known more to myself than to God. He knew what the problem was all along. Sometimes I don't know what the problem is because I don't want to or don't want to face the reality of myself.

Here's the results...once God showed me what it was, I repented of it and received a spiritual breakthrough.

Here's some hope...you know that root I dug out. The deeper the pick went the root got smaller and then relief I yanked it out. By tending my flower garden more closely I'm going to be checking for any wildshoots before they take deep root. In my life, it means staying close-intimately close to God my Father, Jesus my Lord and Savior and being sensitve to the Holy Spirit so that the revealing of self (weeding) is less painful.

While this was not an easy breakthrough Dr. Bruce says the insights that I learn from pain will endure. I'm finding that the cost of daily discipleship has some benefits...one is to encourage imitation of Christ and allow me to act in ways that are centered in God's will.

May the hand of God be upon you as you seek His face to receive His peace.

Sessions in the prayer closet

The lessons continue in the prayer closet. It's bitter sweet at times. To be honest there are days I don't want to go into the closet because God is faithful in answering my desire of learning and living a disciplined life.

Discipline is found in many commands from the Bible to believe, obey, walk, present, fight, reckon, hold fast, pursue, draw near, and love.

I continue to find the strength of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit at work to accomplish needed change in my life through sessions in the closet.

"If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit." Galations 5:25 NASB

This is a choice I make daily towards spiritual maturity. To actively have my mind and emotions guided and strengthened by the Holy Spirit.

Believing a lie

The objective of my quiet time has been to develop a personal relationship with God and to grow my devotion to Him.

I believe there was a time I thought I could really hide some of the things in my life from God. That was a lie. I think we all do it. We think we can hide those attitudes, thoughts...the real unattractive characteristics that aren't Christ-like. We try to pretend they don't exist or bury them beneath busyness.

Hey, what about this cool truth..He wants me to fully comprehend that He knows everything about me and that He still loves me unconditionally? He pursues me so I can know Him intimately and submit to how He is recreating my heart, renewing my mind and establishing me.

God always sees me as PresentFuture. It's a reality about God. He sees me now who I am but also can see me as who I will be. Will I be honest with myself and Him and allow Him to create in me His likeness?

Yes and yes.

Are you alright with that? God is pursuing YOU. To know God intimately, passionately, confronting Him personally everyday may be a struggle for you. It's been one for me. I encourage you to begin and not give up, press on.

Be known by the One who loves you with perfect love-God.

Peace be with you.

Pursuing God

I've been blogging about going deeper with God through my journey and my prayer life. This week it is striking me like a brick against my head as I study the Hebrew name of God "Yahweh Yireh" which means "the Lord will provide" that God is the one who is pursuing me.
Have you thought about it ? You think your seeking God but He's always the one seeking you out first. You have a choice everyday to make. Give back to Him what He's giving you or... not. The not is a dead-end, dried-up existence that is futile. Not a good choice but one, if I'm honest, that I find I make too often.
Could it be that my pride and selfishness gets the better of me? Most likely. I think I blame it on the busyness of life and other various reasons, but the bottom line rests within me. Sin...don't candy coat it...call it what it is. That way as the Holy Spirit brings it to your attention you can confess it and surrender it. Hey, for me, it feels like an ongoing project. How about you?

Reflect on: Genesis 22:9-12
Praise God: He is highly exalted, glorious beyond our understanding
Offer Thanks: That God is pursuing a relationship with you
Confess: Your tendency not to face the difficult things that God wants you to face.
Ask God: For the grace to make the necessary sacrifice

Great book: Praying the Names of God by Ann Spangler

I'm so thankful God is pursuing me. I've heard....that He's after you too.

Life's joyous moments

Saturday night Len and I went to see our grand-daughter's first dance recital. How enjoyable, adorable, fascinating and exciting it is to watch her perform before a couple hundred people. It helped that her best friend Ally was there dancing beside her. The girls looked so adorable in their outfits...and of course my little Paige was ...pretty top of the line cute. Would you expect me to say anything else !

It was hot, it was sweaty and you know that feeling of sticking to those metal folding chairs...but it sure was great to be there to watch these kids.

It's good to enjoy family, see friends, and watch their children growing up before your eyes. Life goes so fast...I mean it's really really fast.

God is so good to us. The freedoms we enjoy...I want to be thankful for all of them. I want God to know I really appreciate the opportunities to love family and friends and to know and be known by Him too. How encouraging is this verse: Psalm 18:2 The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn [a] of my salvation, my stronghold. ****God is Good.****

Where My Heart IS...

Many people who know me know that I have a heart for missions. I think I always had an interest but something drastically changed last year when I came back for Cairo, Egypt.

David Bolt, Director of Bring Me Hope, stopped in at our Allstaff meeting to share his vision of the orphange camp program he runs in China. WOW - this young man is passionate and is going after a heart for God and so is his apprentice and friend Andrew.

Anyway, David was sharing how difficult ministry can be with Miriam and I. We both understood what he was saying because we personally experience it. It's the hardest job we've ever taken on. Often people have a different picture of what working for the church or a ministry organization looks like than it really is.

I wanted to encourage David and said perhaps someday I could come and work beside him in building bridges of friendships and care for orphans and translators. I asked him when his deadline for this year's trip was and he said April 15th. Too bad, he added something like if I wanted to come and join them they would extend the deadline to me. Well I told him I'd pray about it. So I did (closet) and a couple of days later I asked Lynn Allison to pray about going with me.

Then I told my husband, Len, what I was praying about. After a brief conversation about ...all money being God's money, he said "Have you left yet?" (He's a very funny man, ha, ha funny. A good hearted person - ask the people that traveled with us to Biloxi in October, 2005.)

So thus began my mission trip to China. It's on an accelerated pace of God bringing along just the right team together, as only He can do. So now a couple - weeks later, there's Carol Miller, Gaila Gartrell and Gwen Hamsher going. 100% committed to saying Yes to the journey God is taking us on.

Today I knew God was up to something when my friend and previous co-worker Lish Kandel came to say Hi to me and brought me up-to-speed on her life. As she was telling me about her new job it burned in my heart you need to ask Lish to go to China, my mind is having this conversation with my heart (this takes "seconds") "are you crazy, didn't you hear her, she just started a new job!" Just as my conversation, in my head, finishes- I hear her say "I'd really like to go to China." WHAT! That's awesome! I share with her what just went on in my spirit (heart/body/mind) and I respond enthusiastically Of Course! Ask your employer and see where this leads you....

I LOVE IT when people risk it and say YES to God.
We're now at possibly 6 women going to Beijing, China, July 19th - 29th or 30th This is big. Our God is bigger, we're pushing the borders of where He wants to take us.

This week-end the team of 7 who went last year to the camp are going to meet with us and we're doing a Nightwalk to sponsor and pray for this year's trip. Will you sponsor a child? It's $25.00 Contact me if your interested. You may not be able to go, but you can sponsor BMH orphans or the team.

You see, since last year, the boundaries are limitless for me, the risks are worth it all - whatever, job, comfort, cost...whatever!! Please, please, please allow God to take you out of your comfort zone and see what God has in store for you.
You might find your world rocked because of His LOVE for you and through you.
Caution: It's life-changing.

I Can't - God Can

I love volunteers. They make The ReignForest at NewPointe Community Church an awesome place for preschool children to come and worship on the week-end.

Today in our huddletime in The ReignForest it was good to have Jason & Katie back from last week-end to continue to share their story with us. Last year Jason was suffering from headaches and had to have some tests to find out what was going on. Not long after the tests they phoned him and said he'd have to come in for surgery...he had a brain tumor the size of a baseball.

He shared how he had not given his life to God at that point. When it came time to go into surgery he knew that it was serious and he decided to surrender everything to God to help him through this. After surgery he was told it was cancerous and there's still a small part of it left.

He shared how he hasn't worried about anything since his time of surrender, how he's hoping that he will be a light to his family so that they can see God working through his life.

A lovely slender woman stands by his side, his wife Katie and she says she knows that she could lose her husband but she's trusting God.

This past week J was in the hospital for several days with pneumonia. He wanted to be here for the week-end to share his story. I called him while he was in the hospital and he said he was taking the time to rest and look for opportunities where he could share his story of trusting God.

They are young...less than 30 years old. But they get it !

They can't handle life on their own but they are calling on a God who can.

This is just one of many recent stories being shared by volunteers in The ReignForest. It's a safe place to serve, a safe place to stretch your faith and a safe place to share your story of life change as a volunteer in our environment.

I openly share that I can't lead these volunteers, but God can.

So.. I surrender it to Him.

Thanks volunteers for challenging me in my journey into a deeper and even more transparent relationship with Jesus Christ.

Reflection of God that is worth the wait

Theresa Clay and Gwen Hamsher, volunteers overseeing parts of The ReignForest, shared recently in our Sunday morning huddles. What they shared, provided me with food for reflection. Today I pondered my journey of waiting on God as I searched scripture verses on the topic.

Learn to wait; you show God your seeking Him.
Psalm 38:15 I wait for you, O LORD; you will answer, O Lord my God.

God waited.
1 Peter 3:20 who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water,

An action follows a wait.
Isaiah 64:4 Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.

Here's a promise of His double action, rising and blessing.
Isaiah 30:18 Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!

Sometimes it takes “waiting” to understand the plan, to perfect the plan in you or for your acceptance of His plan. You’ll never finish learning about how big HE is, so get ready, get set, wait for Him.. ..it’ll be worth it.
God is worth the wait.

Turn your cup over.

I really enjoy our Family Life Staff meetings. (There was a time they were alright but somewhat frustrating because they felt superficial.) Now I look forward to hearing what Kevin, Director of Family Life at NewPointe, has to share with our team. The man cares about his relationship with Christ and takes it to heart what his role as a leader means. So much so that he spends a lot of time reading (A LOT) so that he has something to pour into us. He reminds us that "you can't give what you don't have". So that means I do more reading than I've ever done before in my life. I take it to heart that I need to seek God and strive to have a growing intimate relationship with Him. You see, it's not my husband's responsibility to grow me spiritually, or Kevin's, it's not Dwight's (our Lead Pastor at NewPointe) to be responsible for my spiritual development although they may be participants in it. Bottom line, it's my responsibility to develop an intimate relationship with God. The cup needs to be up and ready during reading of His Word, prayer time, at Family Life meetings, listening to Dwight speak, reading books, listening to a volunteer's story, through a conversation with a staff member or perhaps even with someone I meet at Wal-Mart. This is something I need to work on ...making sure my cup is turned over, ready to receive what God may be wanting to pour into me from someone else.