Dig Deep

This morning I got a neat word picture of the Word of God.  The Word of God is like dirt.  Bear with me please!  Dirt has different layers.  The top soil, subsoil, and a rock layer.  The top soil protects the deeper layers of soil from erosion from rain, wind, and other elements.  It can also sustain life.  The subsoil is filled with nutrients, and it is where roots go to find water.  The rock layer is full of minerals, but does not sustain life.  However, it is the foundation for the other two layers of soil.  It is the stability.  The Word of God is just like that.  The top soil of the Word of God sustains life and is life giving.  It can protect us with it's truth from the storms and trials of this life that often can have an eroding affect on our spiritual lives.  But if we dig a little bit deeper into the Word, into its subsoil, we find nutrients that will feed us and build us up so that we will never hunger again.   We will find life giving water that will never run dry!  And if we go even deeper, we will find the rock layer of the Word of God!  It is the foundation of  Jesus Christ in our lives.  It is steadfast, stable and it will hold us strong and nothing can separate us from it.  So dig deep into God's word!  Skimming the top is good and will benefit us.  But let us not be satisfied and stop with the top layer.  Dig deep into His word and we will find a solid rock on which to stand that cannot be shaken, food that will never leave us hungry, and water that will quench our thirst!

Trusting God

God has been teaching me ALOT about rest the last several months.  This last week, He has been speaking to me about trust.  They go hand in hand.  In order to rest, I must trust.  I have been reading through 1 and 2 Samuel about David.  I often think of David as this sweet, little, innocent shepherd boy strumming on his harp and quietly tending the sheep.  However,  I do not believe that is who David was.  A description of David is given to King Saul in 1 Samuel 16:18 and this is even before David goes to fight against Goliath.  "Then one of the young men answered and said Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who is a skillful musician, a mighty man of valor, a warrior, one prudent in speech and a handsome man; and the Lord is with him."  David was strong and no stranger to adversity.  Even in the field, caring for his fathers flock, he encountered  threatening situations with the lion and the bear.  He was a man of war and trained for battle.  By the time he become king, at the age of 30, he had fought in at least 4 battles and had killed many people.  David had no qualms in pursuing and defeating the enemy.  However, there was one man, one enemy, that David refused to lay a hand on.  King Saul.

King Saul hated David and pursued David with the intent of killing him.  However, in all of David's encounters with King Saul, David never sought to kill him.  This is what caught my attention.  Here is a young man, victorious in battle, a hero to the people, having the knowledge that he would be King of Israel one day, but one person was in his way.  One man was trying to kill him and keep him from the throne.  David had two opportunities in which he could have taken Saul's life, but he didn't.  Why did David not do the obvious thing, and kill his enemy?  He had killed all his other enemies, why not King Saul? 

This is the answer that I have come to:  David had a deep respect for the sovereignty of God's will. He did not allow his life or his own desires to get in the way of God's plan.  David cried out to God for safety and protection.  There were times that he even felt abandoned by God.  However, he always came back to the truth of God's sovereignty, he always came back to trusting and praising God.  WOW! 

It blows me away, because I'm not sure I can say that much for myself.  It is all about the issue of trust.  David trusted God, His will, and His plan.  He allowed God to be God.  It is a challenge for me.  It is hard to sit back and trust that God is in control.  Especially, when life doesn't make sense and no answer is in sight. God is saying to me, "Trust me."  I often assume when life does not go as planned it is  a snare of the devil to get in my way, to hinder me.  However, God has given me new perspective.  I love when He does this!  It is not always a snare of the devil when life does not go as planned.  The plans I have in life are often my plans.  So the change of my plans is not a snare of the devil, it is just God going about His plan!  No snare, just God being God and working out His perfect plan.

I believe there are times the devil attacks us and tempts us so we might fall and hinder what God is doing in our lives and in the life of His church.  However, even when this is the case, the Word of God tells me that God will take what is intended for evil and He will use it for good (Genesis 50:20), that God will supply all my needs (Philippians 4:19), what He has started He will finish (Philippians 1:6), that all things work together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).   Satan cannot come up with a big enough plan to nullify these promises or to throw off the plan and will of God.

The issue is about trust.  David knew this.  He knew if God was for him then no one could be against him (Psalm 56).  And that is the truth!  It is so easy to say. "Yes, God is for me so who or what can be against me."  It is a lot harder to walk it out in a life of faith and trust in God.  Trusting God is knowing His truth, claiming it in our lives, and  living it out by resting and trusting in God's plan.  No doubt . . . . only trust. 

Proverbs 3:5-7  Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight."

Learning to Rest in the Unknown

I am a planner.  I work most efficiently with a plan in place, an agenda, and a destination or a goal to reach for.  Recently, the plans I had were changed.  So, I have responded like I always do to change, with a lot of questions.  I wonder why things are changing, what is next, and what is the purpose of the change.  A lot of times, I receive answers for my questions.  This time, though there has been no answer to my questioning.  Well, at least not the answer that I have been looking for.  The answer that I continue to receive is "rest and worship".  I have been left with a lot of unknowns and I am at a place where I know absolutely nothing.

The unknown has always been a very frightful place for me.  I do not fly well by the seat of my pants, though as I have gotten older I have learned to be more flexible.  It is still not my favorite way to fly though!  :)  This time, I have been left with no plan, no to do list, and no agenda.  These are all of the things that I have relied on.  I have struggled with a sense of helplessness, demanding answers from God so that I can feel safe and secure.  Instead, I have had more anxiety than safety.

This morning dawned fresh and new.  His mercies continue to be new every morning!  I have found a new sense of peace even in the unknown.  God showed me a new perspective, His perspective.  In the absence of a plan, I find myself completely open to whatever God is doing.  I am free to do whatever He brings to me, because I have no other plan.  My hands are no longer filled with a to do list that must be checked off or done first.  There is nothing in my way of saying yes to Him.  It is now His list and His agenda that becomes my priority.  In order to know what His plan is, I must keep my eyes steadfast on Him and stay extremely close to His side.  In the meantime, in the waiting, I am free.  Free to run, to play, to enjoy His presence, to laugh, to sing, to dance!

Jesus gave me a beautiful picture this morning as I was praying.  I saw a beach and the ocean.  There was a beautiful sunrise.  I saw  myself:  A little barefoot girl with golden curls dressed in a pure white frock.  I saw Jesus, also dressed in white, walking beside her as she played in the waves;  frolicking with absolute joy, trust and love for her daddy Jesus.  Every now and then, she stopped playing, grabbed His hand, looked up into His eyes and smiled. She had no care, no worry, just the moment, just Jesus. I had a sense of that feeling you get on the perfect vacation.  There was no schedule.  The day could be filled with whatever and anything. 

What a beautiful picture!  All of Him, all of His strength, His power, His might, and His plan!  Thank you Jesus for continuing to speak to me, even when the answers are not the ones I am looking for.  Thank you for continuing to teach me about resting in You and trusting You.  I love you!

 

My God is Enough

Why is it that God often is not enough for us?  In 1 Samuel 8, the Israelites ask for a king because they had rejected the authority of God.  Samuel warns them what will take place once they have a king, but they do not listen to him.  They demand to have a king placed over them anyway.  As I read this morning, I started to feel a little angry towards the Israelites.  God had done so much for them.  Time and time again He came to their rescue and time and time again they turned back to their old vices. 

Don't we do the same thing though?  Instead of allowing God, in all of His majesty, power, provision, love, and goodness to be all we need, to satisfy us, we continue to look for more.  We replace God with another king:  work, toys, big houses, relationships, busyness, promotions, worldly treasure, public applause.  I have found myself saying, "If I could just have the perfect body, then I will be happy" or "If I could have a bigger house, or a smaller house, or no debt, or kids that don't bicker and fight, then life would be better."  I have sought after those things, positive that they would bring me some sort of fulfillment. 

In the end though, we find ourselves just like the Israelites bound to a king, and having to serve it instead of being bound to and serving Jesus.  We need to stop searching.  We need to take our eyes off of the glitz, glamour, and sparkle that the world offers and fix our eyes on the only one who can give us more than life.  It reminds me of pack rats.  They are drawn to everything shiny and sparkly.  In fact, they can have a berry for food or a piece of materiel to add to their nest in their paws and when they see a shiny penny they will drop the other item and pick up the penny instead.  What good is the penny to the rat?  It doesn't offer them sustenance or warmth!  It only clutters up their den and distracts them from focusing on obtaining what will sustain their lives.  Oh, just like us, well at least me, so easily distracted by all that glitters!

Jesus is all I need.  He has and always will provide for me.  When I look back on all that He has done in my life, how can I ever doubt that He will not continue to be my everything?  He provides for my physical needs, but more importantly He offers something that the world can never provide.  Life!  Abundant and eternal life! 

It is time to fix our eyes on Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith.  It is time to stop taking what the world has to offer and instead take to the world what Jesus has to offer.  He is the King of Kings, the Master of this universe, our God and He is enough! 

At the Feet of Jesus

Over the last day or so, I have found myself in a very familiar state of mind.  One of worry, fretfulness, and asking the "what if's" and "why nots".  I have often found myself asking questions that sometimes are not even worth answering.  Everytime the outcome is the same:  worry, anxiety, and fear.  I know that none of these things are from God and are a complete distraction intended to take my focus off of Him.  This morning, He reminded me of the peace that is found at His feet.

It is hard for me to explain the joy and peace that washed over me, when I settled myself down at His feet this morning.  Peace. Quiet. Calm.  Rest.  Everything else, the swirling of the thoughts in my mind, the fear, concern, worry they just simply disappeared.  All that was left was Jesus! 

I understand why the sinful woman washed Jesus' feet with her tears.  She understood the mercy, grace, and forgiveness that is found in Him.  It is at His feet she was forgiven and all of her past was washed away.  All of the worry, burden, and cares she  must have been carrying with her were simply gone.  What a precious place to be and a place that I do not desire to leave.  It is the only place that I have found where I find complete rest, peace, and refreshment.  Jesus washes all the cares of this world away and brings me back to the one and only that matters - Him!

He wants to do the same for you!  Lay it down at His feet!  He wants it all.  Worry.  Fear. Lonliness. Sin. Regret. Anxiety.  Trade it in for His peace that passes all understanding.  You will find freedom and rest at the feet of Jesus.  Everything else will wash away and in Him you will find peace!


Casting Crowns - At Your Feet

"Here at your feet, I lay my life down
For you my King, your all I want now
And my soul sings . . . "

Our God is an Awesome God!

There are a couple verses in Joshua, that keep coming back to me over the last couple of days.  Joshua 24:2-3 says,

And Joshua said to all the people, "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, 'from ancient times your fathers lived beyond the River, namely Terah the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, and they served other gods.  Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River, and led him through all the land of Canaan and multiplied his descendants and gave him Isaac.'"

The section that stands out to me the most is, ". . . they served other gods.  Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River . . . "

Whenever I think of the Bibles patriarchs, I always make the assumption that from little on up, they were worshipers of God and faithful to Him.  However, when I read this verse, it dawned on me that Abraham would have grown up in a home and society that worshiped many gods.  The part of this scripture that grabs me the most is, "I took your father Abraham from beyond the River . . . "

God took Abraham out of a heritage of idolatry and gave him a new inheritance.  God took Abraham from a place of death into a place of promise, fruitfulness, and life.  Abraham could have told God no when he first heard God calling him.  Instead, Abraham put aside all he knew and understood to follow the voice of the one true God.  This gets me excited because Abraham's story is our story too!

I was curious what the word "took" meant in Hebrew.  So, I looked it up.  It means to take in the hand, carry along, take out of, carry away, capture, take possession of.  God took Abraham in His hand, He captured Abraham's heart, He carried him along and took him out of a life of death. 

Isn't that what God does with us?  He captures us, takes us in His hand and takes us out of a life of death.  He takes us from a life of worshiping everything and anything but Him and brings us to a place of worshiping Him alone.  The beauty of it is that God did not find Abraham in a place of righteousness, but in a place of idolatry.  God is not looking on the righteous to scoop up, but on the unrighteous!  Mark 2:17 says, When Jesus heard it he saith unto them, 'They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick.  I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."  Jesus has come not for those that are well, but for the sick, Praise God!  He desires to capture us, to take us into His hand, to scoop us up in our dirtiest state, in the deepest place of our sin and to bring us into a promised land of fruitfulness and life!

What a relief I find in the example of Abraham!  What hope!  Oh, what love the father has for us that while we were yet sinners He died for us! (Romans 5:8)  How wide and how deep is the love of our Heavenly Father!  What an awesome God we serve, who loves us so deeply that He comes looking for us, and calling us, even when when we are sill living in sin.  He loves us so much!  Oh that fills me with soooo much joy! I want to shout it from the rooftops!  Our God is an awesome God!

Too Comfortable?

This morning I  was reading in Joshua and noticed that not all of Israel's enemies were removed from the land that God had given to them.  When Judah went to claim their land, they did not dislodge the Jebusites and it was the same also for the tribe of Ephriam and the tribe of Manasseh.  They did not dislodge the Canaanites. This seemed really strange to me.  God had given Israel the strength to demolish Jericho, Og, the Amorites, the Hivites . . . the list is quite long.  God had even commanded the Israelites to destroy absolutely everything when they went in to possess the land.  (Deuteronomy 20:16-20)  Why then, were a few of these Jebusites and Canaanites left?  The Bible says the Canaanites remained because they were determined to stay.  However, I am sure that the inhabitants of Jericho were equally determined to stay, and they were removed.  So what was the difference? 

I believe that some of the Israelite tribes got a little too comfortable and possibly a little bit lazy.  The Jebusites and the Canaanites did not want to leave and were not causing the Israelites too much discomfort.  In fact, it worked out well for both the Israelites and the natives of the land.  The natives got to stay and the Israelites got workers.  In Joshua 17:14-18, though, the tribe of Manasseh began to complain to Joshua that they did not have enough space to live.  Joshua encourages the tribe to clear the hill and wooded country for themselves.  However, they had good excuses as to why they shouldn't do this.  Even if they cleared the hill, it still wouldn't be enough room, not too mention the Canaanites had iron chariots.  It is almost as if they had completely forgotten all of the times before that God had won the battle for them or  they doubted that He would give them the victory this time!  So Joshua, and I love his response to them, said, "clear it and it's farthest limits will be yours; though the Canaanites have iron chariots, and though they are strong you can drive them out."  In my translation of this, Joshua was saying, "Come on you guys.  You can do it.  Stop complaining about it and do something about it instead!"

It just seemed like too much work.  So instead of tackling the job in front of them, they whined, hoping Joshua would take care of this for them.  Maybe they would get lucky, and he would just hand over to them some more uninhabited land.

I have been guilty of this.  I have become too comfortable and, yes, even lazy with issues in my life.  Instead of tackling the situation, I complain about it  hoping that someone else or God will fix it for me without any effort on my part.  What holds me back from continuing to claim my promised inheritance?  I believe it is an attitude of settling for "good enough".  It may not be the optimal situation, but it will do.  The effort I have to put forward to claim what is mine and clear out the enemy is too much.

Apathy will rob us every time of the inheritance that is ours to claim.  We can no longer afford to waste our time settling for "good enough" because we have been called to be ready and to be set apart (1 Peter 2:9).  The Israelites did not remove everyone from the land as God had commanded them to.  The outcome of this, was:
- The Israelites were not able to claim their full inheritance
- Over time, the Israelites began to accept the culture and the gods of these people, defiling themselves.

Do not allow apathy to steal away your full inheritance.  The situation may seem small and harmless. It may be easy to excuse away, like a wrong attitude, a little more food then what you need, a movie that you shouldn't have watched, surrounding yourself with the wrong crowd, or a little white lie.  However, with enough tolerance and exposure, it will not be long until these issues distract you from being who you are meant to be in Christ Jesus. 

Free to Be Me!

Just when I began to feel that I could not possibly contain more of God's freedom in my life, He opens the floodgates and He pours out some more!  I have been bound by years by the expectation of man.  For so many years, I have listened to the voice that says to me, "you are not good enough. you need to be doing more and you  need to be just like her in order to be productive."  At a very early age, I found myself accepting others opinions of me as truth and I would do whatever it took to change myself so that I could fill the expectation that I felt had been given to me.  I wanted to be perfect.  I wanted to be accepted.  However, this new wave of freedom that has been given to me says:  "I AM FEARFULLY AND WONDERFULLY MADE just the way that I am!  Hallelujah!  Trying to live according to man's expectations and ideas for my life has only brought me failure and discouragement.  Cause, I simply cannot live up to the expectations of others.

The good news is that I can live up to the expectations of God!  What freedom to realize that I no longer need to put myself in a position of pleasing people.  I only need to put myself in a position of pleasing my Heavenly Father.  I no longer need to try to keep up with the latest fads and ideas which are constantly changing.  Talk about driving myself insane!

There is one, though, who NEVER changes! Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  (Hebrews 13:8)  His thoughts for me have never changed and His plan and His purpose for my life do not change.  He only requires that I love Him and that I obey Him.  (John 14:15)  That is all I have to do to be pleasing and acceptable to Jesus.

All of this reminds me of a dream that I had about a year ago.  That day was Sunday and Rob and I led worship.  I was extremely nervous and I messed up.  I didn't feel I was singing at my full capacity.   I did not feel that the spirit of God was falling and I felt that it was our fault.  We had somehow hindered the Spirit of God to move.  As we were singing, I was being bombarded by thoughts that were distracting me from worshiping.  "The spirit isn't falling, people aren't worshiping, you're fake, and people can see right through you."  By the time service was over, I felt like a complete failure and that I had let down the leadership of our church.  All I wanted to do was to go home, crawl under my blankets, and disappear.  So I did.  I fell asleep and dreamed.  In my dream, I saw a father and a son.  The father asked the son to do something for him.  I do not remember what the task was, but I do remember the response of the son.  The son said, "I can't do that perfectly."  The father spoke to the son saying, "I don't seek perfection.  I seek obedience."  I woke up and the weight of failure lifted off of me!

God does not require my perfection.  All He asks is that I obey Him.  It is through my obedience and through Him that the perfection comes.  Not by my own strength or will, but through His.  His requirement of me is light compared to the heavy burden of the requirements of man.  What relief, what joy, and what freedom is found in following only the voice of my master instead of the MANY voices of this world.  "Come to me all who are weary and I will give you rest"  (Matthew 11:28-30)

I am free to be me!!

His Mercy and Grace

I am so thankful for God's mercy and grace in my life.  So many times, I find myself stumbling.  But in His word, I am constantly reminded of His love for me even when I fail!  It is incredibly easy to give into feelings of discouragment and yet, God always reminds me that He is not finished with me yet and always, always offers me a way out.  1 Corinthians 10:13 says, "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man.  And God is faithful, he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.  But when you are tempted, he will provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."  That is so encouraging, because I know that I will not be defeated!

Today, I was reading in Joshua about Achan's sin.  One man gave into the sin of coveting and his sin impacted the whole camp of Isreal.  Isreal no longer had God's protection from their enemies.  God told Joshua that Achan, all of his family and all of his belongings must be burned.  It reminded me so much of my own temptations.  It only takes once of giving in to temptation and all of me, mind, body and soul are impacted.  God dealt with Achan's sin by cleansing the camp of Achan and everything that was tied to him.  It is the same for me.  My sin must be cleansed.  Thanks be to God for His mercy and grace in my life!  Thank you Jesus for your cleansing blood!  As I continued to read, I was so encouraged by God's words to Joshua after Achan and his family were put to death.  God told Joshua to not fear because He would deliver Isrealites enemy into thier hands.  What this spoke to me is this:

God has not left me alone!  Deal with the offense and the sin, but do not be afraid and do not be defeated!  God has given into my hands the victory!