"And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice." 1Kings 19:12
I was sitting on my patio one morning when a hummingbird flew so close to me, I could've touched it. It was so beautiful! I didn't dare breathe too deeply for fear I would shorten its visit.
I knew this tiny creature would not stay long so I drank in every second he hovered eye-level to me. I took quick mental pictures of its iridescent colors, the amazing speed of its tiny wings, and that bee-like buzz those wings let off.
Then it was gone.
I let out the breath I was holding and scrambled to relive the rare encounter. I wanted more! How could I make it happen again?
Stillness was the only way.
Same with hearing the voice of God. He's everywhere at once, but if you want Him to visit you one-on-one and speak to you, you must make your heart and life quiet enough.
God often speaks in a still, quiet whisper. Are you ever still enough to hear it? Could it be that an answer you're waiting for has been spoken over and over by the Father, but you can't hear it over the clamor of the radio in your car, the television in your home, and the standing open-door policy you have with your cell phone and social media?
Lack of quiet is a breeding ground for anxiety, confusion, and the accusing voice of the enemy.
Quiet and stillness send an invitation to the Father to come over and have a talk.
Be encouraged to make pockets of quiet a priority in your day. The loving interaction God has with your spirit is sweeter than anything, even the buzzing of a hummingbird's wings.
Shhh...God is speaking!
Friday, September 19, 2014
Thursday, September 11, 2014
The Big Day
"Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom." Eccl. 9:10
She was a beautiful young woman.
We only took a few classes together, and we ran in different circles, but it was obvious even from a distance that she was crazy about Jesus. Anyone could tell God had embedded in her heart a deep love for a particular race of people in a land far away. She was studying and saving to bring them Jesus upon her graduation.
What impressive passion!
What devoted love!
What heartbreak when she died a few months after learning she was incurably ill.
I couldn't believe it! Why call her home early when the laborers are few as it is, and so many are waiting to hear the truth?
The answer is none of our business.
What IS our business is pulling out the hope chest and serving Him on the good china of TODAY.
Have you assumed that because your goals are noble and Christ-honoring that God will give you enough days to fulfill them? He may not. All you have is today. Nothing else is promised.
Purpose to go to bed empty each night because you left it all on the stage of your TODAY.
Determine to allow God to extract every drop of glory from every moment of your life TODAY by His grace.
Don't hold back. Because there's no promise of another day, every today IS the Big Day!
Talk About It: I have been holding back, saving some things for when my dream comes true, but I've discovered that was bondage. God deserves my best today. What does that look like in YOUR life?
She was a beautiful young woman.
We only took a few classes together, and we ran in different circles, but it was obvious even from a distance that she was crazy about Jesus. Anyone could tell God had embedded in her heart a deep love for a particular race of people in a land far away. She was studying and saving to bring them Jesus upon her graduation.
What impressive passion!
What devoted love!
What heartbreak when she died a few months after learning she was incurably ill.
I couldn't believe it! Why call her home early when the laborers are few as it is, and so many are waiting to hear the truth?
The answer is none of our business.
What IS our business is pulling out the hope chest and serving Him on the good china of TODAY.
Have you assumed that because your goals are noble and Christ-honoring that God will give you enough days to fulfill them? He may not. All you have is today. Nothing else is promised.
Purpose to go to bed empty each night because you left it all on the stage of your TODAY.
Determine to allow God to extract every drop of glory from every moment of your life TODAY by His grace.
Don't hold back. Because there's no promise of another day, every today IS the Big Day!
Talk About It: I have been holding back, saving some things for when my dream comes true, but I've discovered that was bondage. God deserves my best today. What does that look like in YOUR life?
Thursday, September 4, 2014
Take the Stairs
To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. --1 Corinthians 9:22-23
I already know I'm risking being misunderstood, but please don't let it be because you didn't hear me out.
Ever seen a person who needs to hear about Jesus, but you ask yourself, "Why in the world would they give me the time of day? Why would they listen to me?"
Perhaps you approached a stranger and they were put off by your "religious question". Admit it, you felt awkward just approaching them.
Hear me when I say that you don't have to do this with everybody, but I am discovering that the awkwardness can sometimes be eliminated if we took the stairs of relationship-building instead of the quick elevator to rush straight to the God-talk.
Would the odds they will listen increase?
Could it be that the elevator is at times more about us "just getting it over with" instead of choosing to take the time to earn the ear of a lost person?
Caring takes time. It is a decision to work a relationship into the folds of our busy lives instead of crashing in from a helicopter, delivering the goods, and being airlifted before they know what hit them.
God can do anything He wants anyway He pleases. People do come to know Jesus through elevator talks and helicopter drops ; however, some, nay many, need the gentler approach of a friend over a stranger.
Bottom line: let's be just as sensitive to the Spirit's leading to take the relational stairs as we are to His nudge to take the elevator.
Talk About It: I was once led to reach a group of teens at a bus stop in my neighborhood. I was a 39-year-old mother. I had nothing in common with those teens. God showed me over that next year that a listening ear and a caring heart cause people to lay out the welcome mat on subjects that otherwise would be off-limits. Have you found this to be true?
I already know I'm risking being misunderstood, but please don't let it be because you didn't hear me out.
Ever seen a person who needs to hear about Jesus, but you ask yourself, "Why in the world would they give me the time of day? Why would they listen to me?"
Perhaps you approached a stranger and they were put off by your "religious question". Admit it, you felt awkward just approaching them.
Hear me when I say that you don't have to do this with everybody, but I am discovering that the awkwardness can sometimes be eliminated if we took the stairs of relationship-building instead of the quick elevator to rush straight to the God-talk.
Would the odds they will listen increase?
Could it be that the elevator is at times more about us "just getting it over with" instead of choosing to take the time to earn the ear of a lost person?
Caring takes time. It is a decision to work a relationship into the folds of our busy lives instead of crashing in from a helicopter, delivering the goods, and being airlifted before they know what hit them.
God can do anything He wants anyway He pleases. People do come to know Jesus through elevator talks and helicopter drops ; however, some, nay many, need the gentler approach of a friend over a stranger.
Bottom line: let's be just as sensitive to the Spirit's leading to take the relational stairs as we are to His nudge to take the elevator.
Talk About It: I was once led to reach a group of teens at a bus stop in my neighborhood. I was a 39-year-old mother. I had nothing in common with those teens. God showed me over that next year that a listening ear and a caring heart cause people to lay out the welcome mat on subjects that otherwise would be off-limits. Have you found this to be true?
Thursday, August 28, 2014
Don't Shut Down
"Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praises."
Whatever you do, don't shut down.
Is life going well for you? Let your mouth and heart send love notes of thanks and praise to God. Do not have an affair with good times and cheat on the Lover of your soul. Any good going on comes from Him. Allow the gift to champion more love for the Giver, not compete with Him.
Are you in a season of suffering? He can handle your anger, absorb as many tears as you need to cry, and understand your questions about why He didn't fulfill what you believe He promised.
Bring it all to Him.
Your flesh will want to turn your back and give Him the silent treatment. He will be there when you are ready to come back, but you cheat yourself when you pull away. Suffering is hard enough. Why add loneliness to it?
Invite Him to the party and the funeral.
No matter what, don't shut down.
Whatever you do, don't shut down.
Is life going well for you? Let your mouth and heart send love notes of thanks and praise to God. Do not have an affair with good times and cheat on the Lover of your soul. Any good going on comes from Him. Allow the gift to champion more love for the Giver, not compete with Him.
Are you in a season of suffering? He can handle your anger, absorb as many tears as you need to cry, and understand your questions about why He didn't fulfill what you believe He promised.
Bring it all to Him.
Your flesh will want to turn your back and give Him the silent treatment. He will be there when you are ready to come back, but you cheat yourself when you pull away. Suffering is hard enough. Why add loneliness to it?
Invite Him to the party and the funeral.
No matter what, don't shut down.
Thursday, August 21, 2014
Driving Yourself Crazy
"for each one should carry their own load." Galatians 6:5
Can you imagine driving the expressway with one hand on your steering wheel and the other on the wheel of the car in the next lane? I know it's physically impossible unless your neighbor is driving one of those foreign cars with the wheel on the wrong side.
Stay with me, please.
If you were to accomplish this feat, how well would you be driving your own car? Swerving and bumping? Barely arriving at your destination in one piece? Sounds dangerous and exhausting!
Cars were not designed for that, and neither was your life.
In your desire to be caring toward others, you started out lending a helping hand, but now you've become an unpaid workhorse. You're pacing the floor worrying about someone who is not as concerned about their problems as you are. You're driving their car when they should be doing it themselves, and you're driving yourself crazy. It's too much!
God has a wonderful to-do list for your life. Have you cut from the list of another and pasted it to yours?
Only the Holy Spirit can help you discern the fine line between Christian caring and codependency. Ask Him to highlight the line so you know if you've crossed it.
Talk About It:
How have you been able to draw the line? How do you think God helps us handle the guilt that can accompany setting boundaries?
Can you imagine driving the expressway with one hand on your steering wheel and the other on the wheel of the car in the next lane? I know it's physically impossible unless your neighbor is driving one of those foreign cars with the wheel on the wrong side.
Stay with me, please.
If you were to accomplish this feat, how well would you be driving your own car? Swerving and bumping? Barely arriving at your destination in one piece? Sounds dangerous and exhausting!
Cars were not designed for that, and neither was your life.
In your desire to be caring toward others, you started out lending a helping hand, but now you've become an unpaid workhorse. You're pacing the floor worrying about someone who is not as concerned about their problems as you are. You're driving their car when they should be doing it themselves, and you're driving yourself crazy. It's too much!
God has a wonderful to-do list for your life. Have you cut from the list of another and pasted it to yours?
Only the Holy Spirit can help you discern the fine line between Christian caring and codependency. Ask Him to highlight the line so you know if you've crossed it.
Talk About It:
How have you been able to draw the line? How do you think God helps us handle the guilt that can accompany setting boundaries?
Thursday, August 14, 2014
Surrender
"...yet not my will, but yours be done." (Luke 22:42)
In all our excitement and joy about the manifold promises our gracious God makes us in His Word, sometimes we overstep.
We can allow our joy to spill over into places God has issued no invitation.
We may assume our dreams are God's dreams for us when they may not be.
King David dreamed of building a house for The Lord ( 2 Samuel 7). Nothing wrong with that, right? He was a man after God's own heart--what a beautiful gift to dream up! But David's wonderful, God-honoring desire was not God's desire. That dream had someone else's name on it.
Ouch!
What if what you are dreaming of is not the Father's plan? What should your attitude be in the face of this brand of disappointment?
Surrender.
There is freedom in surrender. It rolls the responsibility for outcomes onto Bigger Shoulders.
Surrender remembers there is a bigger program at work than just the part of the map her shadow falls on.
When a dream makes a brilliant and persuasive proposal, Surrender casts a child-like glance toward the Father for His nod of approval or His thumbs-down.
A dream is a beautiful thing, but it's an ugly step-sister when compared to the splendor of surrender to the will of our First Love.
Talk About It: Do you find it frightening to surrender your dreams to God?
Thursday, August 7, 2014
This Just In
Ephesians 5:16 (AMP) - Making the very most of the time [buying up each opportunity], because the days are evil.
Hello Friends,
It is Election Day today (Thursday) and I am unable to do an official blog post. I would like to give you something to meditate on, though.
If you knew you were going to die seven days from now, how would you live differently? Who would come to mind that you'd wish you had done more for, thanked, forgiven, or spent more time with.
Why wait til you get bad news before you begin making your regret-list shorter?
Start today redeeming the time you have left.
Hello Friends,
It is Election Day today (Thursday) and I am unable to do an official blog post. I would like to give you something to meditate on, though.
If you knew you were going to die seven days from now, how would you live differently? Who would come to mind that you'd wish you had done more for, thanked, forgiven, or spent more time with.
Why wait til you get bad news before you begin making your regret-list shorter?
Start today redeeming the time you have left.
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