Moving Forward in God’s Grace

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Christian, forgiveness, Love, Promises of God, Religion and Spirituality

So lately I’ve been challenged in ways I never thought I’d have to be. A bond of trust has been broken and my heart is finding it difficult to forgive quickly. It’s not like I’m perfect and do everything right, I keep reminding myself. But still, I’m bothered. So much so, well…let’s just say Sunday mornings could find me drinking tea in the corner of a coffee shop.

And I suppose that’s what unforgiveness does, takes away your passion and drive and replaces it with bitterness and resentment…feelings of failure.

Last night as I was explaining to God that there was no way I could move forward in my own strength, the Holy Spirit brought a song to mind: Divine Exchange by Abundant Life Ministries, from the album “The Divine Exchange Live Worship.”

The Lyrics…

My heart is captivated Lord, by You alone
Captured by the awesomeness of You alone
Melted by the grace and mercy You have shown
I stand in wonder

I reach to you the one who make the blind eyes see
Who breaks the chains of sickness with authority
Restoring of what was broken
So it may fly again

I live to worship you
I breathe to worship to you
All of my days, your face I’ll seek

For as I worship you
You lead me to that place
To that place of divine exchange

With this one song ringing in my heart, God reminded me that He is the restorer of what’s been broken. And though it hurts now, He is the God of divine exchange, according to Isaiah 61:3, able to give me beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that I might be called a tree of righteousness.

Wow, what a blessing. My main prayer these days is that God would be glorified in my heart and in my life and I have to admit, I’m not there yet. I wrestle.

But I can see God stepping up to the plate to be everything I need to walk me through. His love is beyond my comprehension and I just believe that if I’m patient with myself and open to Gods direction, forgiveness and peace will one day wash over me.

Daniel Fast: Time to Rest

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Christian, Christianity, Faith, Inspiration, Love, Peace

This week, I’m on the last leg of a 21 day Daniel Fast. If I’m honest I have to say it’s been amazing. I’ve gotten more accomplished in the last two weeks than I got done in the last six months. Eating properly has given me more energy–I don’t feel the need to sleep nearly as much; and I can run up a flight of stairs without feeling like my heart is going to burst through my chest. I feel better, gotten more done…but I have to say, I miss Jesus.

I’ve been so busy in this fast “doing things,” I never took the time to just sit and enjoy the company of Jesus. And now here I am longing for Him, pining for Him like a lost puppy. So this week ‘Martha me’ takes a back seat to ‘Mary me’.

What a blessing it is to know Jesus. Song of Songs 2:10-14 says,

¹⁰ My beloved spoke and said to me, 
   “Arise, my darling, 
   my beautiful one, come with me. 
¹¹ See! The winter is past; 
   the rains are over and gone. 
¹² Flowers appear on the earth; 
   the season of singing has come, 
the cooing of doves 
   is heard in our land. 
¹³ The fig tree forms its early fruit; 
   the blossoming vines spread their fragrance. 
Arise, come, my darling; 
   my beautiful one, come with me.”

This week, whether you’re fasting or not…if you’ve been so busy you’re dehydrated of the Spirit of God, take some time to sit by the well and drink from the water of life. Worship Him Spirit and truth and be renewed in your inner man.

Dear Lord, help us to make time to Come away with You… amen.

Lord, Enlarge my Territory!

Tags

Christian, Christianity, Inspiration, Jabez, Marriage, Mother, women

So yes, I know…it’s been a long time since I’ve last blogged and frankly and I can’t even begin to explain why that is. Although I’m sure it has something to do with the fact that I’ve been trying to finish the revision of my first novel, taking care of two children and hating my blog theme every time I’ve logged on to think about writing.

But finally, I think I’ve found a theme that works for me. And speaking of themes, my theme for this year is “Lord, enlarge my territory” according to 1 Chronicles 4:9-10.

⁹ Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.” ¹⁰ And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” So God granted him what he requested.

First of all, what a touching prayer. Imagine me, touching my heart and saying awwweee.    A young man caused his mother so much pain in his birth, she named him Jabez after that very experience, to be remembered forever. Imagine how he must have felt with that hanging over his head every day. So finally he takes His problems to the one who has the power to solve them and prays “Oh that you would bless me, indeed and enlarge my territory.” And he ends with and …keep me from evil that I may not cause pain.” This young man sees how he’s unintentionally hurt his mother and simply asks that he not be the cause of any more pain. What precious and pure heart he had.

Okay, yes, I realise I’m straying from my point-but Wow! The closest I’ve ever gotten to praying that way was in asking God not to let me mess up my children’s lives; or in other words that I be a blessing to them and not a curse. Frankly, sometimes I wonder.

Anyway, I’m asking the Lord to enlarge my territory this year. After being married for 16 years, taking care of family and home, I’m beginning to realise that I haven’t done very much for me. I haven’t bought much, laughed enough; haven’t produced much, traveled much or gallivanted anywhere. I actually get a feeling of panic every time I think about my children going off to college. Good Lord, what will I do with Me? Ughhh! And please don’t gasp, I know so many mothers like myself, it’s not even funny. We need a life outside our homes and we need it pronto! (In righteousness and integrity of course.)

So that’s what I’m praying for in 2012, that my territory would be enlarged beyond my home life. That God would bless me indeed, and His hand would be with me. That I’d be kept from evil so I don’t cause pain…to anyone. Hopefully this will come in the form of gainful employment, or a book deal, maybe one my little businesses will take off–I don’t know! Thankfully, I serve a God who takes care of all my hows.

Cheers to all the moms out there– may God bless you according to the prayer of Jabez!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Psalm 9: Sowing and Reaping

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Christian, Christianity, Faith, Inspiration, Jesus, Love, Promises of God, wisdom

¹⁰ Those who know your name trust in you, 
   for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.

Out of all the scriptures in Psalm 9, verse 10 is the one that brings me the most comfort. I could testify about the benefits of trusting God for days, but I think in this season I’d rather focus on Psalm 9:16 which reads:

¹⁶ The LORD is known by his acts of justice; 
   the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands.

While I don’t think Christians can ever call themselves wicked, I do think we have been guilty of wicked things. Sometimes in an effort to change a situation or satiate a craving, we cross over into the enemy’s territory and are surprised at what comes forth by the works of our own hands.

What do I mean? Well have you ever been so upset with someone you pulled a David and prayed against them? Right, of course most of us have enough wisdom to know that praying against a person is a form of witchcraft, (For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places, Eph 6:12.) But do we have enough wisdom and training to be able to love the person in our hearts while we’re praying against the spirit of bitterness, anger or resentment behind the person’s actions?

Many of us don’t. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14:15, “I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also.” Which means when praying in tongues, you should bring your thoughts under subjection and pray in you mind as well.  With this in mind, it’s easy to deduct that if you’re praying in your native language, your heart and thoughts should also come in line with the prayers being spoken.

If your words are right during prayer, but your heart is still holding resentment and bitterness, entertaining negative thoughts, it’s the same as planting flowers and weeds together. When the harvest comes, there will be strife; hence judgement.

To put it bluntly: reaping what you sow is no easy task when justice rises up to bring correction. When God takes His word and pierces your heart, learn the lesson He wants you to learn and change before the harvest comes.

Jeremiah 29:11 says,  “For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Usually when God allows people to come against us, it’s to sharpen us for our calling. God uses adversity to shape us and mould us into the people He had called us to be before time began. That doesn’t mean allow people to abuse or misuse us. It simply means that if we work in partnership with God, He’ll navigate us through challenging situations.

There’s a difference between strategic prayers and manipulative prayers.  Strategic prayers are based in God’s promises and focused on Jesus. Manipulative prayers are based in man’s judgement and focused on the problem. Strategic prayers leave you feeling light and airy knowing that God has heard your request. Manipulative prayers leave you drained and heavy, wondering if that was enough.

Jesus says in Luke 21:19 In your patience possess ye your souls. Selah.  When you truly walk in patience, you master your soul. Your emotions can’t get the best of you because you can see above and beyond the small picture before you. If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years, it’s that the big picture is well worth working toward. Philippians 3:14 says, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. 

Ahh Father God, Help us to get there, to that place where patience and peace walk hand in hand in our lives. Help us to release all the tension, stress and resentment and take on your presence like a fragrance that surronds us. And when we get there, Lord, use your grace to help us to maintain, using our hands to sow only good. In Jesus name, Amen

Psalm 8: Who do you think you are?

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acceptance, Christian, Christianity, David, Faith, God, Jesus, Love, Religion and Spirituality, Trust

³ When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
         The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,
 ⁴ What is man that You are mindful of him,
         And the son of man that You visit him?

I’ve been meditating on this scripture all week and the more I repeat it, the more I shake my head. I’ve finally concluded that it’s nearly impossible for us as humans to get the profundity of this scripture. With God being as great and powerful and awesome as He is–the creator of all creation, the one who controls the expansion of the universe, who are we that God would be mindful of us? Even Israel Houghton’s way of answering it only scratches the surface.  I am a friend of God, yes, but who are we that God would call us friend?  That He would even visit us?

Our lack of understanding makes me think there’s a missing link somewhere. Like maybe the reason many of us as Christians don’t move in the power and authority that God gave us is because we can’t grab hold of his love for us. I recently went on a trip with my husband and as he woke up one morning I asked him rather nonchalantly, “what do you love about me.” As any man would be, he was taken aback by my question but he answered after a couple of seconds of grumbling. He said little warm nuggets that made me blush. And then there was silence. I expected him to ask me what I loved about him to which I had my answers all prepared. But he didn’t ask. Instead he cleared his throat and asked, “what do you love about yourself.” Well, admittedly in my flesh, I said something rude and told him it was none of his business. He laughed and prodded me to answer the question. He said he wanted to know because the way one feels about themselves affects the quality of one’s relationship. To be frank, I’m no fool. My husband had flipped the script because he didn’t want to talk about himself. As a result, he won. The conversation was quickly shut down.

But on a whole ‘nother level, my husband had a point. How you see yourself does affect the quality of one’s relationship with others. Imagine, if you will being invited to a fancy ball. You didn’t have much money to buy a gown so you had to take an old dress and alter it. You didn’t have fancy shoes so you had to polish the ones you had. And there wasn’t enough money to get your hair professionally done, so you put it in a bun and curled a few strands around it.  Off you went to the ball, fully expecting the men to look over you and the women to laugh behind your back. But when you arrive the unexpected happens. Like the Prince in Cinderella, the host of the party drops his jaw when he sees you. He immediately wants to dance. You look around because he must be motioning to someone else, until he grabs your hand and puts his arm around your waist. You simply have one question. Why? You wonder if he really understands who you are, how much you don’t have. You wonder if he sees what you see when you look in the mirror. And all the while he keeps dancing, smiling at you as if he were in the presence of a beautiful angel.

Perhaps what David was really trying to say was, “God, look at me. Look at all my flaws, my imperfections. How can you really say you love me? Look at humanity how awful it is, how can you love us and care for us with such passion?” I believe David was saying God we’re not worthy.

But in the fairytale, the Prince is so taken with Cinderella he marries her. Over night she goes from the  poor,  unwanted step-daughter to a royal princess. And she was transformed. The Prince brought out the intelligent, sophisticated woman he saw buried deep within her from the first day they spoke. I’d be willing to bet the more Cinderella saw who she really was as royalty, the stronger her marriage became and the easier it was for the Prince and Princess to flow together in public.

Ohh! Did I say flow in public? That’s right. That takes us right back to David. Who are we that God would be mindful of us? And as my husband suggest, is it that important that we know who we are? Yes! The more we know who we are in God and how much he loves us, the more confidence we’ll have in ministering to others. We’ll pray for people and actually see them recover. We’ll minister the love of Jesus Christ and make disciples of Him. The power of God will be with us everywhere we go.

Here’s my final thought on the matter as of today: Why? God is so mindful of us because we’re his children, and as his children he takes great joy in parenting us.  If we draw close enough we’ll be considered friends, but not many of us will walk as closely as Abraham. The first reason should be enough. God is mindful of us because we’re His children and he loves us. End of story.

Okay open story: To be honest I’ve spent years trying to make myself worthy of God’s love when I didn’t need to. It didn’t work. Then I tried to receive God’s love as if it were like hugging an oversized teddy bear,[yes, I literally squeezed my teddy bear and pretended it was God] but that didn’t work either. Bottom line, God’s love is a constant, it’s always there. But if you’re not used to love, understanding how it works and receiving it can be quite the challenge. It’s a real process of breaking down old beliefs based on lies from the enemy and putting in its place God’s truth according to His word. This takes lots of time.

But if you ever make it to that place where your Cinderella moment comes to life, then what a blessing. True love realized. If God says you’re worthy, then take His word for it and go ahead and love yourself too!

Psalm 7: Scream for Justice…No wait!

³ LORD my God, if I have done this 
   and there is guilt on my hands— 
⁴ if I have repaid my ally with evil 
   or without cause have robbed my foe— 
⁵ then let my enemy pursue and overtake me; 
   let him trample my life to the ground 
   and make me sleep in the dust.

 ⁶ Arise, LORD, in your anger; 
   rise up against the rage of my enemies. 
   Awake, my God; decree justice. 
⁷ Let the assembled peoples gather around you, 
   while you sit enthroned over them on high. 
 ⁸ Let the LORD judge the peoples. 
Vindicate me, LORD, according to my righteousness, 
   according to my integrity, O Most High. 
⁹ Bring to an end the violence of the wicked 
   and make the righteous secure— 
you, the righteous God 
   who probes minds and hearts.

Amen David–talk about it! You ever have folks come against you for no reason at all? You rack your brain trying to figure what you could have done to get on their bad side and nothing comes to you. At least if you knew what you did wrong, you could understand the drama they’re putting you through. But when you don’t know–what can you do but go to God like David and say, “Lord…rise up against the rage of my enemies.”   And get this, David doesn’t say, Lord to rise up against my enemies; he says, Lord rise up against the RAGE of my enemies. In other words, “Lord take away their anger toward me.”

We learn from verses 8 and 9 that ultimately David is asking for vindication. He trust God’s integrity and righteousness and wants God to bring about justice. I agree with David, the righteous should be secure though that is not always the case. Sometimes the enemy reeks havoc on people’s lives under illegals grounds. It is then that we must learn to cry out to God and as David does, scream for justice!

The last line in verse 9 is perhaps my favorite, you, the righteous God  who probes minds and hearts. Ever wonder about the mystery of the two-edged sword? This scripture is great if your heart and mind are pure. But if it isn’t, this sword falls right back on you. If we really want God to fight our cause against the rage of our enemies; if we want him to take us all to court and find us innocent, then we’d better make sure we’re not guilty anywhere.

David worked pretty hard at keeping his slate clean and when he couldn’t figure things out, he asked the Lord to search him.

The next time someone comes against you, why not do what David did–Go to God and pray for justice. But more importantly before you pray, check yourself. Maybe if you’re  innocent in your own eyes, you’ll be innocent in God’s eyes. But then again, maybe not. I encourage you to read the rest of Psalm 7. Does the two-edged sword talk to you?