Category Archives: Devotions

March 22, 2011 · 6:27 am

Fresh Hope


The cracks were beginning to show.

As the week wore on, I exhibited impatience, irritation, and was often dangerously close to tears.

His still small voice  was calling to me…to pay attention…that something in my soul wasn’t right and He needed to tend to it.

I was weary.

Thankful, grateful, trusting…yet still weary.

It has been a long road, these past two years, as my family and I have wrestled with a prolonged trial that tests our faith every day…that stretches us to our limits…then teaches us how to go beyond…only to discover:

*more of Him

*the fact that true Joy is possible even in the midst of pain and tears

*that He is always willing to fill us with His unlimited strength…and in our weakness, we are miraculously made strong

*life does not consist in the abundance of our possessions

*wonders truly do unfold everywhere to those with eyes to see.

Yet there are days when the grind feels relentless and that is what Saturday felt like for me.

I heard Him whisper, “Come to Me…” (Matthew 11:28).

So I slipped away, closed the door, and poured my heart out to Him…all the mixed feelings, weariness, sadness, fear…it all came out like a flood as He listened…

and felt what I felt (Hebrews 4:15)

…collected all my tears in His bottle (Psalm 56:8 )

…whispered His forgiveness that mercifully covers all the ugly (Psalm 103:12)

…reminded me of His promises of unfailing love and deep kindness and good plans… (Romans 8:28; Romans 8:38-39; Jeremiah 29:11)

My mind then flashed back to Pastor Steve’s message at church last week. He spoke on Proverbs 13:12: “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when dreams come true at last, there is life and joy.” (Living Bible). He explained that the word for “deferred” in the original language refers to the Enemy’s ploy to try to take us captive, to entice us away from Christ in an attempt to cruelly steal our hope and leave us weak, weary, and worn out…feeling that we have no place to turn other than the paltry and empty coping  mechanisms of the world system.

Anger rose up within me. The Enemy cannot have my Hope!

He is a loser and a liar and I will not give him the satisfaction of falling for his pathetic ploys.

My God IS my Hope. He never changes. He is FOR me. He is ALWAYS victorious. He is in FULL control. He WILL rescue me.

He is guiding and leading me along this hard path, continually showing me His faithfulness and kindness, offering me His strength and His joy in the midst.

I just need to remember.

As if on cue, my eyes fell on a Sheila Walsh book that I have had for a year and just recently picked up again. It is called Beautiful Things Happen When A Woman Trusts God. I felt led to open to where I had left off reading and these are the words I saw:

“You are not forgotten. God sees you. In His perfect time, you will see Him do what only He can do.”

Peace and joy flooded my heart as tears spilled from my eyes.

One of the many things I love about Jesus is the fact that He so often reaches into my days in such tender unexpected ways, breathing fresh hope into my heart just when I need it the most.

Come To Me

When you are hurting, come to Me

and I will bind your wounds.

When you need to be assured, come to Me

and I will give you My embrace.

When you can no longer go on, come to Me

and I will carry you.

When you need comfort, come to Me

and I will wipe your tears.

When you are uncertain of My love, come to Me

And I will speak My heart to you. —Unknown

May the God of your hope so fill you with peace and joy in believing…that by the power of the Holy Spirit, you may abound and be overflowing (bubbling over) with hope.–Romans 15:13


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March 15, 2011 · 5:34 am

Surrounded


One of my favorite Scriptures is Psalm 125:2: As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds His people both now and forevermore.

Our home is surrounded by mountains. So anytime I feel afraid, I look at those mountains and it brings strength to my soul. It is a reminder that no matter how scary things may look, my great and powerful God surrounds me.

The word surround in this verse means: “on every side, to encircle, to enclose, to envelop.”

Those words bring to mind a recent photo that our nephew shared with us. He and his wife just had their first child last month and they sent us a photo album via email. In one of the photos, his wife is holding their cozily swaddled son close to her. She is looking down at him with pure love and he is sleeping peacefully, knowing that he is completely secure.

As Christians, that is our situation positionally, regardless of what kind of chaos is swirling around us. I may not feel safe when trials come, but I cling to what I know is true and the feelings eventually do catch up…especially as I observe how wonderfully God provides in the midst of it all.

I began to wonder what else surrounds us as believers, and I wanted to share what a search through the Bible revealed:

We are surrounded by God’s goodwill, pleasure, and favor (Psalm 5:12)

God delights in us. He accepts us. He desires us. He loves us with great affection.

“When God thinks about you, His child, His heart explodes in glad celebration. There is divine jubilation beyond words when Almighty God ponders His own.” –Sam Storms, The Singing God.

We are surrounded by songs and shouts of deliverance (Psalm 32:7)

The original word for song means: “ringing cry, cry of joy, to sing for joy, to rejoice.”

Can you imagine what the Voice of God singing and rejoicing over your sweet life sounds like?! One day, when we are finally in His physical presence, we will hear that beautiful song. Until then, we can know that His song rings out strong and clear in the spiritual realm.

“If it were possible to eavesdrop on solar systems millions of light years away, would we hear anything? Is there sound in space? I believe there is one voice that would indeed be heard. Even now, in the farthest reaches of infinity, among the trillions and trillions of stars  yet unseen by human eyes, echoes forth the passionate Voice of the Father, singing about His love for you and for me.” –Sam Storms, The Singing God.

Not only is He rejoicing over us, but He is also singing about our deliverance. That word means: ‘to bring into security, to bring into safety.” I could cry when I think back over all the times when I saw no way out of certain situations and was tempted to despair. However…He always delivered me to a place of safety. Always. And it was hardly ever in the way I imagined it would happen…it was better and could only be explained by His supernatural intervention. I will never get over His goodness!

“The God who is present with you is also a God of unlimited power. He is a mighty Warrior, a strong and victorious Hero who fights on  your behalf.” –Sam Storms, The Singing God.

We are surrounded by His unfailing love. (Psalm 32:10)

What comfort it is to know that His kindness, goodness, mercy and favor surround us at ALL times.

The good news is that we can go beyond just knowing that this is true; God wants us to “feel the joy of being loved. He wants us to receive His love personally and powerfully in a way that is life changing…He invites us to ‘taste and see that the Lord is good’ (Psalm 34:8) and to find in Him ‘exceeding joy.’ (Psalm 43:4).–Sam Storms, The Singing God.

Whatever your situation today, allow these truths to permeate your soul.

You are surrounded. You are safe. You are loved.

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March 14, 2011 · 5:09 am

A Vapor


You do not know the least thing about what may happen tomorrow. What is the nature of your life? You are really but a wisp of vapor (a puff of smoke, a mist) that is visible for a little while and then disappears into thin air. — James 4:14

Life changed dramatically and irrevocably last week for those affected by the earthquake and subsequent tsunami in Japan.

The earthquake occurred in the middle of the afternoon during the work week. One moment, employees may have been stressing about meeting a deadline; the next, they were fighting for their very lives as the earth rolled. Some people were buried alive in their homes by landslides; others were swept away as the merciless wall of water obliterated entire towns.

Each of those people opened their eyes that morning having no idea what awaited them. Some would survive; some would enter eternity.

A dear family friend passed away nearly two years ago. At her funeral, the minister quoted a Scripture that had a profound effect on me: All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be.” (Psalm 139:16).

The God who created you, the God who knows all things, the God who possesses all wisdom, has ordained a life span for you and for me.

It is non-negotiable.

It is not open to debate.

It does not hinge on whether or not you believe it.

It is fact.

There are no ordinary days.

Each ordained day is precious.

Each ordained day is a miracle that cannot be repeated.

We GET to live!

All of life is a gift…even the seemingly “mundane” parts.

We cannot take even one moment for granted.

“Wherever you are, be all there.” — Elizabeth Elliot

See the faces of your loved ones.

Laugh freely and often.

Feel the warmth of the sun on your face.

Truly taste your favorite foods.

Listen to the music of life playing all around you.

Each of us has been created by God for God. (Colossians 1:16-17). Our life may be a vapor compared to eternity but we are “dust dignified by Divinity” as author Jill Briscoe has said. Each of us is created in the very  image of God; therefore, each life is of inestimable value.

When all is said and done, what do you want your life to have been about?

Jesus was very clear about the purpose of life. He said, “This is eternal life: that they know You, the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.” (John 17:3).

As John Piper writes in his excellent book Don’t Waste Your Life, “What is eternal life? It is to know God and His Son, Jesus Christ. No thing can satisfy the soul. The soul was made to stand in awe of a Person–the only Person worthy of awe. All heroes are shadows of Christ. We love to admire their excellence. How much more will we be satisfied by the one Person who conceived all excellence and embodies all skill, all talent, all strength, and brilliance and goodness?”

Everyone’s life on this earth ends in coming face to face with a Person.

We are all traveling toward Jesus, whether we acknowledge that or not. (At the Name of Jesus every knee will bow…and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. — Philippians 2:10-11)

Some will see Him as Savior.

Some will see Him as Judge.

It is your choice. Everyone has been given free will.

I beg you not to miss Him.

He promises that if you truly seek Him, you will find Him.

He is EVERYTHING.  He is Joy. He is Peace. He is Good. He is Kind. He is Love.

He is LIFE itself…vibrant, blazing, all-encompassing, beautiful life!

You get one shot at this life. It is not a dress rehearsal. In light of eternity, this life is a vapor.

Make it count.

Every day is a gift

You’ve been given

Make the most of the time

Every minute you’re livin’…Chris Rice

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March 9, 2011 · 6:46 am

Judgment Free Zone


Today, I got called out by a friend.

We were having a discussion and I found myself making a judgmental pronouncement about a mutal acquaintance. It wasn’t mean and it wasn’t rude,  but it was completely unnecessary and I had no business saying it.

I am grateful that my friend (gently) called me on it, which resulted in me asking for her forgiveness. The second I left and began to drive home, I asked the Lord to forgive me as well. I felt terrible and slightly ill. I know how awful it feels to be judged; yet I was willing to do that to someone else. And I know better!

When I got home, I turned on my computer with the intention of continuing to write a draft I had begun earlier. It was a “pretty” post with a good, edifying message. It would have been a perfectly fine message to post tomorrow.  However, try as I might, I could not make any progress on it.

I realized I had a choice to make: Am I going to be real on this blog or am I going to paint myself in the best possible light and not admit to messing up?

I have no interest in wearing a mask here; I have learned in real life how futile that is. Nobody has it all together and to pretend differently is a waste of time and helps no one.

So, this post may not be pretty, but it will be real. 🙂

We have no way of knowing the real truth about a person’s life, but it is so tempting sometimes to think that we do. We  observe what we can see and think we have all the answers. We may feel somewhat smug, imagining how we would handle the situation. How many times have I said to myself, “Well, if that was me, I would…blah, blah, blah.”

This is exactly the opposite attitude that Jesus calls me to exhibit. He expects me to be merciful: “Be merciful (sympathetic, tender, responsive and compassionate), even as your Father is all these.” –Jesus (Luke 6:36).

I cannot possibly be merciful unless I continually remember how merciful Jesus has been to me.

Our former pastor in Florida always used to say, “Preach the Gospel to yourself every day.”

Why is that so important? Because I can never forget that in His mercy, He came to me because I had no way of going to Him. He willingly took my sins upon Himself so that I could be free. I can never forget that I owed a debt I could never pay and Jesus paid it for me. He forgave me…how can I then turn around and not show mercy to others when I have been shown such shocking and lavish mercy?

I can’t.

When I made that thoughtless comment this afternoon, I was temporarily forgetting the Gospel.

I was conveniently overlooking Jesus’ very clear command: “Do not judge and criticize and condemn others so that you may not be judged and criticized and condemned yourselves.” — Matthew 7:1

There it is, plain and simple.

I am so grateful that I have a Savior who is always waiting with open arms when I come to Him in repentance and willingly and joyfully grants it. He is the Author of fresh starts and second chances. His mercies are new every morning: “…His compassion never ends. It is only the Lord’s mercies that have kept us from complete destruction. Great is His faithfulness; His lovingkindness begins afresh each day.” — Lamentations 3: 22-23.

As the saying goes, everybody is fighting some kind of battle. This life can be so harsh on all of us. I do not want to make this world an uglier place with a proud and judgmental heart, so I will continue to ask Jesus to give me His eyes of compassion and mercy for everyone I see. I will ask Him to put a guard on my mouth so that  I will speak  only what is edifying to others. I will meditate on Jesus’ definition of love as found in I Corinthians 13:4-8: “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.”

That says it all.

Be kind today. 🙂

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March 4, 2011 · 8:30 am

Tender Affection


For  the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but My steadfast love shall not depart from you and My covenant of peace shall not be removed, says the Lord, who has compassion on you. —Isaiah 54:10 (emphasis added).

I really needed to see this Scripture this morning.

Yesterday, I received a phone call from a dear friend who is heartbroken over a recent turn of events. I could hear the exhaustion and sadness in her voice and it brought tears to my eyes. After we spoke, I thought about several other loved ones who are currently in the midst of some major trials and my heart felt heavy. This life can be so hard sometimes.

Yet, this verse gives me such hope. In the original language, the word for compassion means: “to love deeply, have mercy, have tender affection.”

This is the heart of our God for His people.

He is not a disinterested bystander, passively watching as we struggle. He enters into it with us.

If you are going through a rough time this morning, picture Jesus taking your face in His hands and whispering: “I love you deeply. I am filled with mercy and tender affection for you. You are not alone.”

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and I will cause you to rest. I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.” —Jesus (Matthew 11:28).

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March 3, 2011 · 6:52 am

Focus


I learned an important lesson from my dog Buddy today.

(I am well aware that those of you who know Buddy will find this amusing and probably hard to believe). 🙂

Be that as it may, my little Bichon demonstrated something I needed to remember: focus is key.

I had carried a muffin upstairs for breakfast and proceeded to set it on the table beside me while I did some work on my laptop.

As happens every morning, I heard Buddy galloping down the hallway at full speed, ready to jump up onto my lap to offer me his customary wet and furry greeting for the day.

However, this morning he literally stopped in mid-dash when he saw the muffin.

Suddenly, everything–including me, his favorite person– appeared to be forgotten as he fastened his black eyes on the jewel before him. He moved slowly toward it, finally coming to a stop directly in front of the table. Then he just sat on his haunches and stared.

That is where he remained for ten solid minutes, focused with laser-like intensity on the object of his desire. Nothing made him move, not even the things that normally cause him to erupt into a frenzy of barking, such as the oil truck arriving or the ringing of the  jingle bells on the doorknob of the front door, as my daughter ran outside to get her camera from the car.

Buddy’s quest for the muffin ended with the tiniest of tidbits before he happily went on his way,  but the image of his focused concentration remained with me.

Where is my focus?

Is it on what it truly important…or the trivial?

The eternal…or the temporal?

Blessings…or complaints?

God…or man?

Earlier in the week, someone said something to me that really hurt my feelings. I have a fairly tough skin and am certainly open to constructive criticism, but I felt that what was said was totally unwarranted and untrue. I began to turn it over and over in my mind as I went through my day until finally, I heard Jesus speak gently to my spirit: “What is true ?”

That one question immediately put a stop to the fruitless cycle. My focus was all wrong. I had allowed the nastiness of one person (who I didn’t even know personally!) to completely take over my day! What was said was not true…so why was I giving it any more thought?

One of my memory verses for this year is: ” You’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on…the best and not the worst, the beautiful and not the ugly, things to praise, not things to curse.”–Philippians 4:8 (The Message)

My focus had been on the ugly rather than the beautiful and as a result, I had  unnecessarily allowed the day to be  colored by a dark brush.

Last night, my mind went into overdrive about a particular issue, which can often happen when I am tired. I found myself lost in a sea of  “what if’s?”. I allowed my imagination to run wild with all kinds of scary possibilities, while temporarily losing sight of the myriad of ways Jesus has totally and completely provided for me.

One of the most helpful tools I have learned to combat this comes from author Elizabeth George, who wrote Loving God With All Your Mind .When worry threatens to overwhelm, she suggests asking:

“Is this true and is this real?”

That little question has saved me time and again for pointless worrying. If what I am focused on is neither true, nor real, then why am I allowing it prominence in my thought life?  Mark Twain once  humorously declared, “I am an old man and have known great and many troubles…but most of them never happened.”

Each time I catch myself being tempted to worry, I meditate on this verse:  “Turn your entire attention on what is happening right now and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.” —Matthew 6:34 (The Message).

That verse came to my rescue last night and as I started to focus on what was true and real, I was able to relax and get to sleep. There are so many blessings to focus on right now! I am no longer willing to miss those things because I am blinded by worry. Yes, we all have concerns and some of them are huge. But there are gifts waiting to be unwrapped wherever we are…if we have eyes to see.

As for me, I want to focus with laser-like intensity on one Person, just as the author of Hebrews admonishes us: “Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith.” —Hebrews 12:1-2.

In the Greek, the word for fix means: “to turn the eyes away from other things and fix them on something else.” Or Someone else.

He guards my reputation and my future. I have nothing to fear.

By the way, here is a photo of the Bichon who inspired this post today and reminded me to focus on the right things. Buddy was a puppy here. That was seven years…and many pounds…ago. 🙂

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March 2, 2011 · 5:48 am

Face To Face


My family and I lived in south Florida for five years. Each December, the First Baptist Church in Ft. Lauderdale presents an Emmy-winning Broadway-caliber Christmas pageant.

One year, my friend Madora treated a group of us to a matinee as an early Christmas gift. The sanctuary seats at least 3000 and is three stories high. We had wonderful seats on the ground floor in the first row of the second section.

As the the lights dimmed and the show began, an expectant hush fell over the crowd.  The first half celebrated the holiday season with dancing, singing, and numerous set changes. After intermission, the show switched gears to tell  the story of the life of Christ, from birth to resurrection. It was an amazing production, filled with real animals (a camel, a donkey, horses), as well as flying angels and the resurrected “Jesus” being lifted several feet off the stage to depict the Ascension.

At one point, during the Palm Sunday scene, the actor playing Jesus rode right past us on a donkey, bathed in the spotlight. He waved and smiled and every eye was on him as he made his way through the sanctuary lined with palm branches and up onto the stage.

As I watched him surrounded by people, tears unexpectedly filled my eyes and I found myself telling Him, “Lord, if I had been on the earth at the same time You were, I would have wanted You to know me. I wouldn’t have wanted to be  just to a face in the crowd. I would have wanted You to know my name.”

The show ended to thunderous and sustained applause. It truly was an incredible experience and we all felt blessed at having the chance to experience something so beautiful.

Afterward, I was browsing the wall of  books in the large lobby of the church when I heard someone come up behind me. I turned around, expecting to see one of my girlfriends. However…

There, standing in front of me was the actor who had played Jesus.

He was still dressed in his white resurrection robe and his smile was warm as he reached out to take my hand.

Then he asked me my name.

It took me a second to respond but I told him.

He asked if I had enjoyed the pageant, then gave my hand a gentle squeeze before leaving, saying, “God bless you, Susan.”

Then he was gone, melting into the crowd.

I was left speechless, knowing that the real Jesus had just let me know that He had heard the cry of my heart inside that sanctuary. Out of literally thousands of people who were present that day,  that actor had approached me to ask my name of all things!

Jesus was reminding me that He does see me. He does hear me. I am not just one of the crowd to Him.

He knows my name.

Just as He knows yours.

That day was also a reminder that there is coming a day when faith will become sight and I will finally see the very Face of Love, the beautiful Face of Jesus Himself in all His resurrected glory.

Brennan Manning has written, “The true Christian is the lover separated from his Beloved; the day of reunion cannot come too soon.”

I love this definition of Christianity. I am not following a myth or a figment of my imagination. I follow and have given all that I have and am to a Person who gave His all for me and has radically changed my life.

Christianity is not a religion. When He walked this earth, Jesus directed some of His harshest words toward the religious elite of His day.

It is a relationship! A stunning, utterly transforming, passionate love story between Jesus and His Bride (Revelation 19:6-9).

After the show that night, my girlfriends and I had dinner, then browsed the charming shops along Los Olas Blvd. in Fort Lauderdale. I found a necklace that I admired and as I was trying to decide if I should buy it, one of my friends suggested that I purchase it as a reminder of the day I met “Jesus.”  I thought that was a fabulous idea and although it is not an expensive necklace, it is precious to me.

It is a reminder of a day in south Florida when the real Jesus broke through an ordinary day to give me a moment that I will always treasure…and to remind me of a glorious day yet to come.

For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.” — I Corinthians 13:12

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March 1, 2011 · 7:21 am

Not One Inch


I knew it was bad news as soon as I heard my husband’s voice on the phone that February day.

His job…along with several others at his company…had been cut as a result of the economic crisis.

I hung up the phone, shaking my head in disbelief. This had happened to us once before, when the economy took a nosedive after the terrorist attacks of 9/11. I prayed it would never happen again.

But it did.

I chose the above photo for this post because it perfectly conveys how I felt at that moment in time. The skies had suddenly turned dark and ominous, warning that a powerful storm was on its way. I had no way of knowing what was around that  bend…or how long the road would be.

The first phone call I made was to my mom. Her heartbroken, shocked silence brought tears to my eyes and I let them fall while  I felt the clammy grip of fear begin to try to take hold around my heart.

I gave my mom the details; then suddenly, I heard myself speak these words, with a confidence I certainly didn’t feel at the moment: “You know what, Mom? I am not giving any ground to the Enemy on this one. None at all. NOT ONE INCH!!!”

At that moment,  I knew that those three words would comprise my battle plan for this new…and very unwanted…season of life.

Not. One. Inch.

It is at time like this when one’s professed faith is put to the test: Will I believe only what I can see with my physical eyes? Will I allow my feelings to run the show? Will I allow fear to fill my mind and poison my outlook on the future? Will I allow worry to steal my sleep and my peace?

OR…will I give priority to God’s eternal, unchanging Word? Will I rest and trust in His rock-solid promises, as well as His goodness? Will I approach this scary cirumstance in the attitude of conquest, filled with the courage that my Savior freely and fully offers me?

I had a ton of head knowledge about Jesus.  But He was about to take all that knowledge and make such a blazing imprint on my redeemed heart that I will never be the same again.  It was time for a dramatic encounter with my Savior.  I have learned that there are times when He will not hesitate to take drastic measures to not only get our attention, but to wake up a slumbering soul.

Before my husband even got home from his last day at work, I had a list of Scriptures ready to live on for the days, weeks, and months ahead. These promises would be my lifeline and I would cling to them with all the strength I had.  Jesus led me to Scripture after Scripture for my battle plan.

A crisis is no time for posturing or pretense…I needed to be totally honest with Jesus. So, the first thing I told Him, through many tears, was that I was disappointed and heartbroken that He has allowed this.

This would be my first test: what do you do when your sovereign Savior allows one of your worst fear to come true?  When your spirit feels crushed and your heart is filled with pain?

Ps. 62:8 says, “Trust Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our Refuge.”

Let it all out. He can take it.  He is your safe place. He knows exactly how you feel. (Ps. 139:1-4). He sees each tear you cry. (Ps. 56:8).

Where in the world do we get this idea that we have to “clean ourselves up” before we can come to Jesus? We come to Him for the bath!  He would much rather have us approach Him with red-rimmed, puffy eyes, mascara streaks halfway down our faces, yet honest and real, as opposed to every hair in place, makeup perfectly done, pious-sounding words that we don’t mean coming from our lips, mask firmly in place, and  all the while, our hearts remain cold to His touch,  encased in bitterness and hurt feelings. He seeks…and sees…ALL of us…the good, the bad, and the ugly…and yet He loves us with a passion that is beyond our ability to fully grasp.

When we pour it all out and are empty and spent, we have made room for Jesus to then  fill the hollow places.

What does  He fill our hearts with?

*A gentle reminder that trials are part of life on this fallen planet, but He is in control: “In Me, you have perfect peace and confidence. In the world , you will have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer (take courage, be confident, certain, undaunted!). For I have overcome the world. (I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.” —John 16:33 (Amplified Version).

Even in the face of one of my worst fears, Jesus was telling me that because I belonged to Him, I could be confident, certain, and undaunted. Courageous!

Beth Moore once said, ” There is no denial in courage. Courage is denying the reality its’ victory over you.”

Christians were never meant to live in denial. We can meet any circumstance straight on because  we have:

*the certain knowledge that He will never leave us: “…God Himself has said, “I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. (I will not, I will not, I will not, in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake you nor let you down (relax My hold on you! Assuredly not!)” —Hebrews 13:5 (Amplified Version).

*the fact that we are more than  conquerors through Him. (Romans 8:37).  In the original language, the word conqueor means: “to gain a surpassing victory, to overcome, to prevail.” I am NOT a victim of my circumstances! Neither are you!  Because of  Christ’s strength working through us, we need NOT come through our tough seasons defeated and a shell of who we once were. Not on your life! We can emerge out of that battle stronger, more purposeful, filled to the brim with faith and grace, and more in love with our powerful Savior than we have ever been!

*overflowing HOPE: “May the God of your hope so fill you with all joy and peace in believing…that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound and be overflowing (bubbling over) with hope.”–Romans 15:13 (Amplified version). Jesus Christ Himself IS our living Hope (I Peter 1:3). Hope for the Christian is never wishful thinking! Our hope is firmly anchored in the Person of Jesus, our resurrected Savior, who promises to work ALL things for our ultimate good! (Romans 8:28).  The King James Version declares this to be a “lively hope” meaning, ” to be fresh, strong, powerful, to have an expectation of good, joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation.” Our hope in Jesus blows away the stale dustiness of our days and breathes fresh life into our souls, even in times of trial.

*the realization that most importantly, it’s ALL about HIM: “In Him, all things were created…all things have been created by Him and through Him. He is before all things and in Him, all things hold together.”–Colossians 1:16-17. I exist to make much of Christ, not the other way around. The late Christian recording artist Rich Mullins once said that he wanted his life to be an arrow pointing to Christ and that is my desire as well. If I have to go through a trial so that others can see that Jesus is alive  and the supreme treasure of life, then it is all worth it!  Much like a diamond sparkles brightly against a black velvet backdrop, the dazzling beauty of Jesus can sometimes best be seen by a watching world  during our dark days.

This has been by far the hardest journey Jesus and I have ever taken together. There have been good days and bad days. It wasn’t always pretty and it has been scary and heartbreaking at times. It’s not even over yet. However, as I walked (and to be honest, sometimes stumbled or crawled) along this painful road, I made an amazing discovery:

He is more beautiful that I ever knew.

He is way more powerful than I ever imagined.

He is infinitely more tender than the sweetest human love.

He is firm—yet kind–in His conviction of sin in my life.

He is more wonderfully creative than I ever dreamed.

His resources truly are inexhaustible.

He is radically committed to bringing His light into all the dark corners of my heart.

He still does miracles.

He will not tolerate divided affections.  He wants ALL  of me.  He is LORD.

Sometimes, He shakes the foundations of our lives so that we can see what can’t be shaken. (Hebrews 12:27). My identity was all wrapped up in externals prior to this season (although I wasn’t even fully aware of that). He has shown me that I can be stripped of those things and still be okay—even thrive!— because they do not define me. Christ alone defines me…and He will never change. He is my sure Foundation.

Were there days when I did give ground to the Enemy, despite my best intentions? Yes…sometimes it seemed that I gave up miles! Yet…Jesus was faithful to lift me out of that pit, dust me off, steady me, and put me back on my feet to walk the path He had chosen for me, hand in hand with Him. (see Psalm 18).  In His strength, I regained that lost ground and haven’t looked back.  Not one inch.

“…Even during storms when the winds are most intense, we are more than conquerors. You may be tempted to run from the ordeal of a fierce storm of testing but head straight for it! God is there to meet you in the center of each trial…He will whisper to you His secrets, which will bring you out with a radiant face and such an invincible faith that all the demons of hell will never be able to shake it.” —E.A. Kilbourne

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February 25, 2011 · 11:43 am

Spring Is Coming!


We are getting a snowstorm in my part of the country today.

Schools are closed.  The winds are whipping across our yard, causing the snow to swirl upward into spirals, a delightful wintry dance.  The skies are gray and the colors of spring and summer are hidden underneath a blanket of white.

As much as I can appreciate the stark beauty of winter, I dearly love spring and summer and eagerly await their radiant return each year.

There are some seasons in life that cause us to feel that winter is here to stay forever. We can begin to despair of ever again feeling the warmth of the sun.

God seems hidden.

We may feel inside what winter trees look like:  the 0nce  full, thriving, flowering, green trees now appear to be bare, brittle, cold, and  lifeless.

C.S. Lewis perfectly captured this feeling in the The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe when he described Narnia under the cruel reign of the  white witch: “It’s always winter but never Christmas.”

I felt like that last spring. I was one year into a very tough season with no end in sight. To be honest, I felt totally exhausted, discouraged, and drained.  I was scared. I had very few answers and at least a million questions. With everything in me, I wanted this season to be over! I longed for happier, more carefree days. I felt like my life was on “pause” and if I could only release that pause button, my life could truly begin again in earnest.

That, however, is a faulty assumption. That is living by sight and not by  faith. There is life to be found, even in the pause.

That April, Jesus, the very Creator and Sustainer of life, the very One who came to give us life in all its fullness ( Colossians 1: 16; John 10:10),  broke into my gray days in a most wonderful way. He arranged for me to hear the same  beautiful Scripture five times in just three days, all  from different sources: “Arise, My beautiful one and come with Me. See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come!” —Song of Songs, 2:10-11.

On the morning of April 17th, I opened my love letter (the Bible) to see what Jesus had to say to me that morning. I almost fell off the chair when I saw that Song of Songs 2:10-11 was part of my directed reading for that day!!! (I was using a ‘read through the Bible in a year’ plan).

In her book The God of All Comfort: Finding Your Way Into His Arms author Dee Brestin writes, “When we see something new (while reading the Bible)—something that has always been there, but which now, the Spirit reveals to us—we are being touched by Almighty God, we are being ‘kissed by the King’, we are being quickened by the One who raised  Jesus from the dead!”  (Earlier in the book, Dee noted that “a kiss from the King according to rabbinic tradition, is a living word from God.”).

I had just been kissed by the King. That was now the sixth time He was showing me that Scripture in a very short amount of time. Joy suffused my soul as if the sun had suddenly broken through the clouds.

I looked  up from my Bible to take in the view from my picture window…and saw a coating of snow! The calendar said it was spring…but it sure looked like winter outside.

The spiritual lesson was not lost on me. When  I looked outside, I saw snow, gray skies, and bare branches. It was undoubtedly a winter scene.

YET…the calendar definitively declared that spring had arrived! Which would I choose to believe: what my eyes could see or what the calendar said?

Jesus was giving me a promise:  a new season is on its way! Would I choose to cling to His promise and trust Him for what I cannot see (which is the essence of faith?). Or…would I focus only on my difficult circumstances and let that eclipse His promise?

I chose to believe His Word.

Jesus is ALWAYS true to His Word.

Just thirteen days later, He performed a miracle in our situation, one that left us stunned with wonder and feeling dearly loved and cherished.

As God’s own, we ARE always  dearly loved and cherished…even during the long gray days of winter.

If today finds you in a winter season, stay in the Word. It is your lifeline. Claim His promises of tender love and care for you. He is always at work, even when we can’t see it. He will always prove faithful.

Granted, His timetable differs from ours most of the time…but He knows what He is doing.  As my friend Claire reminded us at Bible study last night, “He paints on a canvas bigger than we can see.”

Winter may be here…but spring is just around the corner!

Expect hope to be rekindled. Expect your prayers to be answered in wondrous ways. The dry seasons of life do not last. —Sarah Ban Breathrach

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February 23, 2011 · 6:42 pm

Treasuring Time


“We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand…and melting like a snowflake.” —Marie B. Ray

This afternoon, my husband and I took our daughter Julia to  the local high school to get her registered for freshman year in the fall.

As I watched Julia interact with the guidance counselor, so poised and confident, the school office suddenly melted away and this is what I saw in my mind’s eye:

and this:

and this:

After the meeting, we went to the car to wait for her brother. As I drove home, listening to their laughter and chatter, more pictures from the past flashed through my mind:

Where has the time gone?!

Seasons change so quickly.

For the past 11 1/2 years, the kids have been homeschooled. That was a journey I never thought I would take and I went into it with much fear and trembling. Homeschooling is not for the faint of heart. To this day, it is the toughest thing I have ever done…but the joy was immense. I wouldn’t trade even one moment.

Eleven and a half years went by in the blink of an eye. My son is now in school full time, so once fall arrives, both will be gone and the house will be quiet…the days of workbooks, field trips, lunch out every Wednesday afternoon, long walks, messy science projects, bursts of laughter, and even sibling squabbles…will all be relegated to sweet memories.

I won’t mourn for the fact that my children are confident teenagers, ready to spread their wings; that is as it should be.

But I will mourn the fact that as I was living those precious days and years, I did not truly treasure them for the gifts that they were. I took them for granted. Just because the days sometimes felt like they would last forever, they did not.

I won’t make the same mistake again. For the next few years, I will  cherish this time with my children.

I will not just see; I will perceive.

I will not just hear, I will listen.

I will not just pass the time; I will redeem it.

I will celebrate.

I will fully enter into my moments, even the seemingly “small” ones, realizing that “the whole of life–even the hard–is made up of the minute parts and if I miss the infinitesimals, I miss the whole…there is a way to live the big of giving thanks in all things. It is this: to give thanks in this one small thing. The moments will add up.” –Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts.

Time is the great equalizer. Rich, poor, young, old, sick, healthy…we all have the same amount.

We all choose how to spend our days.

I will choose joy.

I will choose gratitude.

I will choose grace.

I will choose courage.

I will choose kindness.

I will choose mercy.

I will treasure.

“Time is a relentless river. It rages on, a respecter of no one. And this, this is the only way to slow time: When I fully enter time’s swift current, enter into the current moment with the weight of all my attention, I slow the torrent with the weight of me all here. I can slow the torrent by being all here. I only live the full life when I live fully in the moment.” —Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts.

So, this day…and every day…enter fully into your moments. And live.

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