Stronger

Testing..... I would say probably most of us do not like testing of any kind. Especially tests in school growing up.  As adults in our jobs we might have testing as well to keep up our skills or learn new things and show compliance for a new skills needed for our jobs.  Whatever the situation or reason for the test, it usually is not fun and just the thought may cause some of us to sweat. :) I know I do. 

The hardest kind of testing for me, hands down, is the testing of life circumstances and relationships. All the things in life that get difficult can be hard, but the struggles in relationships are the hardest for me. Especially, when it happens with people closest to me. With all of us, this kind of testing can hurt the most. 

The Bible talks about the testing of people's faith.  Abraham is an example.  Job is another one. There are many who have faced the trials and difficulties of life and had their faith tested.  I have heard some people say "Why does God test our faith, doesn't he know?"  Yes He does.  But I guess the better question is, if He knows what our faith is, then why does He test it or allow things to happen to try our faith?  Maybe it is more for us to discover what our faith really is.   

I know for me, if things are going well and I'm floating along, it doesn't take long with my sinful nature to think I'm a pillar of faith.  It is when trials come in my life, the really acutely painful ones, that show me what my faith is really worth.  A lot of times I stand in awe and shame that I puffed myself up and thought I was so strong. I see over and over that instead of truly trusting in God in everything like I thought I was, it doesn't take much to turn the tables and for me to doubt God like the Israelites in the desert.

There is a serious battle going on for our hearts.  It is not that God does not care, or wants us to go through tons of pain and heart ache.  But He knows that our sinful condition is fatal, if we don't rest all our hope and trust in Him.  Allowing this "testing of faith" burns out the impurities in our hearts and teaches us the reality of the status of our heart with God, if we let it.  It becomes an opportunity to grow and be more perfected in our faith.  

I know I have used this verse before and probably in a similar way discussed this topic, but I know I need repeated reminders in this area and maybe some of you do too.  And in times like these this verse always helps to put things in better perspective for me.

• James 1:2-4 - "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything"  NIV

At the end and sometimes in the middle of trial "testing" , it can give me a different and better perspective on where I really am with God and especially my true trust level with Him.  God is jealous for us.... For ALL of Us... Our whole heart.... not just a piece of it.  He knows our tendencies and where we slip back into old habits, and He knows the devil is out trying to take us down and rip us and our faith to shreds.  He wants us to see that no matter what trials we face can trust Him and be mature and complete in our faith.

So the verse says "Let perseverance finish its work".  This is what I tell myself this morning in the midst of my testing.  Instead of fighting the pain and wishing this trial would be over cause it hurts so much, I need to trust God and let the pain of perseverance finish its work.  For the proverbial "What doesn't kill us makes us stronger"  Holds true by the loving hand of our God if we let Him.  Even when we don't understand why we must go through what we are going through.  We get stronger in faith in Jesus and that He is fighting the fight for us and has already won.  

Courage for you this day in the testing of your faith!

Lens of Love

So lenses are very amazing things.  They are able to take in light and show and image to the viewer.   In photography, the lens makes all the difference on what you see.  Things can appear totally different than what they really are.  There are lenses with glass that warps an image to be really close up and the edges far away, or one that makes things close seem far away, or even with certain colors prominent. 

My lens or lack of lens has been a little skewed lately. Have you had times like that?  You know like you have a good friend and they seem a little distant, or a brother or a sister you are close to said something that seemed a little off, or a co-worker you normally get along great with seems to not like one of your ideas.  It kinda messes with us doesn't it.  

In theses situations we have choices right?  Based on our experience with them and the truth we know, we can choose what we do with the things that seem not good.  We choose to believe what we see on this one occasion as the truth, or we can choose to believe what we know about and have seen from the past. We can decide what lens we will look at the situation.

Now we were meant to be able to look at the world with pure clean lenses.  God made man to see the world as it really is, a beautiful gift of love from our creator. But the Devil had other plans to come and distort or vision and inject sin into this world.  And we all know sin as flipped this world upside down.  Now what is right, SEEMS wrong, and whats wrong, SEEMS right.  

The beautiful thing about God is that He gave us a lens that helps flip the image we think we see into the image it really is.  

JESUS

• John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." NIV

So when we think life is too much and we are doomed, we aren't! Thinking about this Love of God by giving us Jesus, doesn't this have the capacity to change our view?  Of  COURSE! 

So all those people you know that may have let you down sometimes or done something that didn't feel good. If you choose to look through the lens of love, that they love you, you can trust them.  Then you know that even when things a little off, you can trust their love for you.   You are able to still move forward in the relationship with them even when things aren't perfect.

It is the same with God!  God does so much for us every day from the warm bed we sleep in at night, to the flowers outside, to fuzzy little mongrel that welcomes you when you come home from work! But besides the things we enjoy now God has given us JESUS! He gave us Jesus to show us His great and abounding love for us beyond question!!!!  So even if our warm bed is taken from us, or the flowers forget to bloom, or the fuzzy mongrel is no more, that we can look to and through the Jesus and this Great Love, to know that God looks out for us and will not abandon us!

So as usual and as many of us do sometimes, I got down about life circumstances.  In times like these, I lose my lens.  I decide to try and look at the word and my circumstances through my own eyes and start doubting God's love for me. I get lost in the lack of a spouse or kid when all my friends have one, or in dissatisfaction with my job or family.  Instead of stopping and taking the time to look through the lens of Jesus.  I cry out to God and say "why is everything so messed up!!!"  And God gently reminds me "Remember My Love"  "Look to and through the lens of My Love, Jesus"

I was sitting in church yesterday and I was listening to the music being played for the offertory "Redeemed".  The line that always touches me is "Redeemed how I love to proclaim it, HIS CHILD AND FOREVER I AM" 

With that kind of love, how can we not want to look through the lens of love always!  I pray for you and for me that we get better at choosing the lens of love, over any other in this world.  God bless you this week!  Amen!

Singing Over You!

"The Lord your God is in your midst,
 a mighty one who will save;
 he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing"

Zephaniah 3:17 ESV

I was just recently introduced to this verse.  I just so love the picture it paints of God.  That He rejoices over us as His kids!  That He quiets us with His love and is so overwhelmed with love for us He sings loudly over us!  

Can you imaging God walking around heaven saying your name and how much He loves you and starts singing in joy over you and the relationship you have together, like a Dad sings to his kids to comfort them, or be playful with them, or be proud of them because they are HIS kids!  

Dear friends in Christ!  Please know this today that God loves to sing over you!  May you be encouraged this day! 

Trust Me

My heart has been hurting a lot lately. There are times in each of our lives that we feel down or discouraged. I feel the pain of a couple of close people to me.  I identify with their suffering and questions.  I long to reach them but they barrier themselves up because of their pain or disappointment.  They can only see their pain they cannot see past it.

Boy do I identify with these feelings.  I have been several times in places where all I could see was my suffering.  I had no idea the damage my own suffering was causing to those around me.  Anyone that tired to help I would fight and argue with  because I was too afraid to let anyone touch that wounded part of me. But deep down I longed to be set free and be healed. 

I know what awful games the devil plays with our minds and even still I find myself getting stuck in these patterns of thinking starting to believe the lies he spins for us. "No one will understand you" "you'll never be good enough" "Everyone thinks you're crazy" "God loves them more than you" "If you tell them how you feel, they will leave you"

Ever heard those lines before?

My heart just aches for these loved ones and for the wake of destruction this kind of thinking is doing in their lives.  I have tried to talk with them but they still seem so stuck.  

So this last couple weeks I have just cried and cried over it. I long for God to step in and wake up their hearts to see His love and a way out.  But it seems that things just get worse and more people are getting hurt.  It seems as if all my prayers are in vain and nothing breaks through. 

It is hard in times like these for me to keep the faith.  I feel God saying to me just keep trusting me. I just want to say like David saying "How long oh Lord!"  But you know what I love about David... He was so honest about his feelings to God and just laid them at God's feet.  In the end he always found hope in His loving God. Psalms 13 is one of my favorites.

"How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and day after day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?
 Look on me and answer, Lord my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,
 and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”
and my foes will rejoice when I fall.
 But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.
 I will sing the Lord ’s praise,
for he has been good to me" NIV

In some way God speaks to David and reminds him of all He had done  for David and says "Trust Me, Remember all the times I have been good to you, just trust me"  David remembers and says. Despite what I see and feel "I will trust in your unfailing love......for he has been good to me"

Psalms has a way of soothing my soul in rough times. It helps me to see I can be totally honest with God and tell Him how I feel.  I don't have to pretend with Him.   When I lay these burdens at His feet, He will lift me up and remind me to hang on and trust Him because of all He has done and His unfailing love.

Now my heart still hurts and I will keep longing for these loved ones,  but God reminds me that He has unfailing love not just for me but for my loved ones as well. That He has not forgotten my prayers or missed one tear I've cried. He gently whispers "Trust Me" " Remember what I've done in the past for you and trust me"

Many of you, I know struggle with much harder things than this. God see's everything we go through and His heart breaks too for the things sin does to us in this world. He longs for us to reach out to Him in everything with total honesty of heart. He knows He is the only one that can save us from this world of sin and pain.  He holds out His hand and says "trust me, I know it seems unbearable but trust me" "I am your hope and your salvation. My love is unfailing! I will lift you up!"

God knows that if we will chose to trust Him, we will have peace. If we chose to believe what He promises and has shown us over and over again in His actions of sacrifice and love, we can have peace!  It may not change the longing but now it can be cradled in hope in our loving God!

So this morning I'm reminded to lay this pain and fear for my loved ones down at God's feet. Reminded of my God's love for me i relax a little. I chose to trust Him, even as I type this entry and make this decision to believe in my God over what I feel and see, peace is washing over me. 

It is an interesting thing choice. Choice must come first sometimes before the peace.

So lay your heart out to God in your struggles, whatever they might be.  He sees you and hears you and so longs to draw close. He wants to give you hope in the midst of your suffering.  Reach to Him and know His unfailing love!  He has not forgotten you or hidden His face. Choose to trust Him and you will find peace.

So Worth Waiting For!!!

Do you ever struggle with waiting?  LOL :) silly question right? 

We wait a lot in our day don't we? We wait in traffic, we wait for the bus, we wait in line at the grocery store, we wait in the drive thru.  There really is no end to the waiting we do.

Some things are easier to wait for than others. So for me waiting for the small things are sometimes harder than for the big things.  Like I nearly go bonkers over the slow lady in traffic, but I wait with bated breath for a trip to go see my friend.  The waiting is almost as fun as the trip because I think of all the fun we will have and every time we talk on the phone we are planning the cool things we will do together. 

Lets be honest though.... Sometimes waiting gets incredibly hard. Waiting for an answer from a doctor about the prognosis of a loved one, waiting to hear if family is okay after a car accident, waiting for the body to heal after an injury, for a single person, waiting for a spouse. Even more painful can be waiting for answers from God about broken relationships, loss of a job, or purpose and direction when everything in your life seems to be going wrong. 

The Bible has so much about waiting.  So many promises and hope!  I love this one in Isaiah.

• Isaiah 40:31 -  "but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
  they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
  they shall run and not be weary;
  they shall walk and not faint"  ESV

What we deal with in this world can be truly down right horrible and nearly what seems impossible to bear, but it is all temporary.  We have such a hope beyond all the pain and sorrow and yes.....even the waiting that we must do in this world. 

My small group at church has been studying Hebrews and yesterday a verse just leaped out of the page at me. 

• Hebrews 9:28 - "so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him." NIV

For the first time this verse brought such encouragement.  Jesus came first to wipe away sin and He will come again to bring Salvation to all those who are waiting for Him.  The English Standard Version says "Eagerly waiting for Him"

We have such a loving Savior that has wiped the slate clean for us and continues to do it for us every day as we turn our hearts toward Him. But He did not die and rise again to wipe the slate clean and then leave us.  He is COMING BACK to bring us SALVATION from this sinful planet!  Isn't that SO worth waiting for?

I think the interesting thing is the verse says for those who are waiting.  When we wait we look for something or someone.  So it is an action a state of the heart, waiting.  We don't wait without some expectation, what's the point?  The beautiful thing is God does not abandon us in this waiting. He gives us strength to go on even when others around us may fall because we put our hope in Him and trust Him in everything!

So the next time you wait somewhere or for something.... Remember..... God will give you strength..... and your waiting is not in vain.  He is coming back to save us and be with us forever!  Something TOTALLY worth waiting for Eagerly! 

Power in a Pile of Rocks

So I have these little pile of rocks around my house. Not because I'm some secret geologist or planning to build a miniature rock castle in my back yard someday. :)  My sweet little niece who is 3 loves them and loves to give them away to the people she loves. 

She doesn't seem to have much discernment in picking her rocks she will pick nearly anyone out there. All colors sizes and shapes can qualify from pea sized gravel to as big as her fist, It matters not. She will at any given moment have at least 3 rocks somewhere on her person hand or pockets. 

Today I walked by my little pile on my end table in the living room as I tried to clear away some clutter and noticed her little treasures again sitting in their place smiling at me. 

It makes me think of how many small gifts and talents we are given, what little things we are drawn to and treasure. God has blessed each one of us with special gifts however big or small. 

• 1 Corinthians 12:4-7 - "There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.
   Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good." NIV

I love how the verse says there are different kinds of gifts but the same God at work and all given for the common good.

What gift has God given you? No matter how big or small God calls you to use it. Some people have the gift of writing letters, or mowing lawns, or saying something encouraging, or listening, or collecting rocks. It may seem small and insignificant but not even the smallest gift goes unnoticed by God and those who receive it.

Those plain little rocks aren't plain to me. They bring me waves of joy and love every time I see them and remember the gift of a loving heart and hand they came from.  So to someone else those rocks are nothing, but to me they mean the world.

Never underestimate the power your spiritual gifts God has given you and how they can change a life. From the outside observer it may seem like nothing but a couple rocks, but to the one that receives it may be more precious than gold and warms the heart of God.

Head in the Game

So I'm back to running again.... for little over a month now.  I'm doing better this season than last considering I took winter off.  Last year I came to a point where running more than 3 miles was hard to me.  I only made 4 miles once.  This season I've made 4 miles 2x but I struggle to get that mileage every time.  

I started doing some research  and my conclusion is. Running is a head game.  Its what I'm telling my body I can do verses what I can't do.  So I know I can do it I've done it before. It is my head and my focus on my body aches fatigue etc that stops me.

I think God has steered me into running, even though I'm not a runner build or really even liked running to start with, because it is such a physical tangible way of understanding our spiritual running.   

Paul compares his spiritual life and mission as a race more than once in the new testament. 

• Acts 20:24 - " However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me —the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace" NIV

• 2 Timothy 4:7 - "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith" NIV

The writer of Hebrews which is unknown but sounds a lot like Paul also encourages us in our faith and spiritual lives as well with analogy of running.

•  Hebrews 12:1-2 - "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith..." NIV

As I put my shoes on and get ready to go outside and do this running thing, what I'm focused on and what things I say to myself make a difference.  If I focus on my body and my internal tiredness I feel like the road stretches endlessly before me and I fail to make my goal. But if I tell myself positive things and focus on the road ahead and my goal, I can do it!

Sometimes  and especially for me the last month, I feel little lost and struggle to feel close to God. I start worrying about how I'm feeling rather than what God's truth is and His promises.  My emotions want to take over and tell me I can't run this race.  However, I'm reminded through my physical running, it is not how I feel that determines my success it is what I'm focused on.  If I take the time to remember God will never leave me and nothing can separate me from His love, my focus shifts and I have a little more energy to keep going despite what I feel.

The devil will try and manipulate us into thinking that how we are feeling whether discouragement, depression, or disillusionment, is the reality. But as Christians we have promise after promise, and truth upon truth, not only in the Bible but times in our lives when God has stepped in and worked miracles for us.  When we focus on these things the resistance drops away and we find the energy to keep the faith and keep going.

So this last week or so I have had to say to God "God despite how I feel I know Your promises and Truth. I trust You" I'm slowly pulling out and finding my energy again to keep going.  Every time I do this it grows me and my faith for the next time around. I find myself able to trust my loving God more and more!

What struggles or emotions are you facing that seem to be clouding your vision or feelings of closeness to God? Remember the Truth. God loves you and will never leave you! This spiritual race is tough and at times a head game.  Keep your head in the game and Trust what you KNOW to be True, not what your body is telling you. Fix your eyes on Jesus and you will find the energy bit by bit to finish the race!!