All Things Are Possible Through Jesus Christ!

I think I have said this before, but I absolutely love when I read a section of scripture for the one millionth time, and God reveals something new to me through it!  I was reading Matthew 14:13-21 about the feeding of the 5,000.  It is one of those Bible passages I unfortunately lump together with being  a great Sunday School lesson.....I'm ashamed to admit that.....and I skim over it.  It was one of Jesus' great miracles and His name was glorified through it.  Many saw His power that day. The biggest miracle I saw, as I read this passage again, was the miracle of what happened in the hearts of His disciples.

Jesus asked His disciples to do the impossible on that day.  He instructed them to feed 5,000 men and that number does not take into account the amount of women and children that would also have been present.  They looked at Jesus dumbfounded (this is my commentary) and looked back at the amount of food they had:  five loaves of bread and two fish.  A little uncertain and feeling a bit inadequate and incapable of doing as Jesus asked they said, "We have here only five loaves and two fish."  I can only imagine how impossible they felt this task was going to be.  After all, Jesus had not said He would feed them.... He said, "....YOU give them something to eat!"

Jesus told His disciples to give to Him the food they had.  He ordered 5,000 people to sit on the ground and, taking the food provided by His disciples, He blessed it, broke it, and gave the food to the disciples to hand out to the multitude.  Imagine with me, the surprise and awe of the disciples as the food did not run out.  In my mind, I can see them handing out the bread, getting to what seemed like the end of what was in their hands and thinking, "there is never going to be enough" and then watching as the food simply did not run out!  Jesus took the bit the disciples had, multiplied it and everyone ate till they were satisfied.

After everyone was done eating, the disciples gathered the leftovers and filled up 12 baskets!  This fact alone is amazing!  They began with not enough, then they had enough....and not just enough, but they had more than enough, and ended up having more than they started with!  Can you imagine their conversation among each other at the end of the day?!  I am sure they stood in amazement of what they had seen!

Jesus showed them the possibilities of what He was able to accomplish through the little bit they had to offer.  He showed them the impossible becomes possible THROUGH HIM!  The inadequate becomes adequate THROUGH HIM!   The incapable become capable THROUGH HIM!  How encouraging and awesome this is!  Jesus did not just do that for the disciples, He does it for you and me everyday!

I often feel that I have been asked to do the impossible.  One of the impossibles in my life right now is having the amount of wisdom, patience, and understanding needed to raise an 11 year old daughter.  And yet, Jesus has given her to us and has asked us to raise her.  Most of the time, like the disciples,  I do not feel I have enough to give.  Feeling very incapable and inadequate I say to Him, "but all I have is a minimal amount of wisdom, patience, and understanding.  I don't think it is enough!"  How encouraging this section of scripture was to me as I read it.  Jesus has not asked me to have enough.  He has asked me to give Him what I have.....so that He can bless it and multiply it.....so that through Him I will have more than enough wisdom, patience, and understanding.  And when it is all said and done, there will be more left over than what I started with!

I encourage you today.  If you are feeling inadequate, incapable, and impossibilities loom in front of you, hand over to Jesus the bit you have.   He will bless it, multiply it and provide you with more than you need and then some!  He will turn your impossibility into possibilities.  He will make you adequate and very capable!  And  all things become possible THROUGH HIM!

The Example of My Heavenly Fathers Love

Yesterday morning, during my prayer time, I was struck by the wonderful fact that God is always listening to me.  It seems like such a elementary fact, but I sat in awe of it.  I did not have an eloquent prayer.  In fact, I was sort of at a lose for words, knowing that I should be praising and praying for others and so on and so forth.....At that moment, I was feeling a need for His strength for the day.  And that is when it hit me, in the middle of my rambling words and my prayer for strength, He was listening in spite of it all.  How wonderful is this!  Do you know why this is so wonderful to me?  It is because I don't listen very well.  I often have a response ready before someone speaking to me is even done with their sentence.  Or, if I am busy and the children or Rob want to say something to me, I often only listen with one ear.  When they get done talking, I realize I have no idea what they just said and I have to ask them to repeat it. Even worse, I have been known to say to my children, "don't talk to me right now" because I feel overwhelmed at that moment and I do not feel capable of holding onto anymore information.  I have even shoo-ed them away from me if I am busy or talking to someone else.  Here is a common one, "can't you see I'm talking on the phone!  What have I told you about talking to me when I am on the phone?!"

God is not that way though.  When I come to Him, He is all ears.  If I am rambling and not making sense, He still patiently listens to me.  If I am angry, ranting, and screaming out about how unfair something is or how I don't understand what He is up too.... He listens.  He never only listens with one ear and asks me to repeat it.  He never says, "don't talk to me right now, I am too busy.  Don't you know there is a crisis I am dealing with?!"  He has never said, "I can't talk to you right now, because I am talking to Georgette in Alabama.  Take a number, and I'll get to you when I can."  No, the God of the universe who holds the whole world in His hands, listens EVERY time I come to Him.  He never pushes me away.  He always embraces me.  He always lets me climb up into His lap.  He is the perfect Father!

Not only did this thought encourage my heart yesterday morning, it challenged me.  It challenged me to be more like my Daddy.  To never be too busy to listen.  To remember, the responsibilities and the cares of this world are not more important than my children telling me about their day..... even when they don't make sense or talk reeeaaaaally slow, or repeat the same sentence several times or interrupt a phone conversation.  To embrace them and allow them to climb up into my lap.  To remember the needs of those around me are MORE important than my own needs and THEY ARE WORTH THE TIME to drop everything I am doing and listen, serve, pray with, cry with, laugh with.......because that is what my Daddy does for me.  It is the example He has set for me. 

Father, How I long to be more like you.  You are always listening and always near to me.  I never have to search you out or hope that you are not busy and have a few minutes to listen.  You are always faithful, always good, and always patient with me.  You love me just the way I am, no matter what I am going through, or how I act.  You never push me away. You always embrace me.  Thank you Daddy for being a wonderful Father!  Thank you for your kindness, your goodness, and your love.  Thank you for your example.  You are always leading me and teaching me with your example.  Thank you for always encouraging me and always ministering to me.  You are so good and faithful!  Give me the strength and continue to teach me to follow your example.  Speak to me and prompt me when I begin to get impatient, push others away, and allow the business of life to take over the needs of my family and those around me.  Speak to me Holy Spirit and remind me to listen the way you listen to me.  I love you heavenly Father!  Thank you, thank you, thank you for loving me!

The No Good Grumpy Morning: A Lesson in God's Faithfulness

Yesterday morning I woke up grumpy.  I grumpily got up out of bed.  I grumpily grabbed my Bible and journal and grumpily walk downstairs to the living room where I grumpily started to tell God all about my sleepless night and all the other grumpy things that I could think up at that moment.  After a bit, I grumpily opened up my Bible and was annoyed to find out that I was going to be reading about Jonah.  I felt my first twinge of reproof for my attitude and my heart softened a bit as I thought, "sure God, have me read about Jonah.  My problems pale in comparison to what he went through."  As I began to read, God popped a section of scripture out to me I had never noticed before.  It made me stop and think.  Honestly, up to this point of reading, I had just been skimming because I know this story by heart .... and I was still a bit grumpy.  (Please don't judge me.)  Jonah 1:14-16 says:

Then they (the sailors) called on the Lord and said, "We earnestly pray, O Lord, do not let us perish on account of this man's life and do not put innocent blood on us;  for Thou, O Lord, hast done as Thou has pleased."  So they picked up Jonah, threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped its raging.  Then the men feared the Lord greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.

I have never thought about the sailors before in the story of Jonah.  But Jonah had a big impact on them.  I am sure they did not wake up that morning anticipating a storm or that they would be throwing a man over board in order to stop the storm.  This day turned out waaaay different than any other day they had every had on the ship.  On this day, the sailors were given the opportunity to see the power of God and it changed their lives.  They were not saved when they got on the boat that morning and did not worship the one true and living God.  The Bible says that when the storm began the sailors cried out to their gods.  However, before they threw Jonah over the side of the ship, they cried out to God.  When they saw the sea cease from raging; the Bible says, they feared God, made sacrifices to Him, and made vows.  The thing that struck me was that God is forever in control.  Jonah was not supposed to be on that boat.  He was supposed to be in Nineveh.  However, because of his presence on that boat that day, 3 men were able to witness the power of God and their lives were changed.  They had a personal encounter with God and  it spoke to me in a couple different ways.

1.  It reminded me of how in control God is and that we cannot change the plan of God.   He knew before time began that Jonah would fight Him about going to Nineveh.  But that did not change God's plan.  He was still in control of the situation even when Jonah tried to take control, by doing things his own way.
2.  It reminded me of how God uses evil for good.  He took Jonah's disobedient act and used it to impact the lives of three sailors.  We focus on the lives of the Ninevites that were spared, but I wonder about these three sailors......their lives were changed also.

It is just awesome to me that in spite of what seemed like a calamity and in spite of the disobedience of a prophet, God worked miracles and brought His plan to completion.  His name was glorified through it all.  What a great reminder to me on my grumpy, grumpy morning.  God is in control.  God is always faithful.  God always has a perfect plan.....no matter how grumpy I am, and no matter what I am facing.  I can rest knowing things will be ok because He is faithful to do His perfect will and He is ALWAYS in control.

Faith Building Moments

Over the last week or so, I have had some moments of quietness that I do not relish.  Quietness might sound appealing to some :) however, I am talking about a quietness in my spiritual life where God has felt distant.  I do not like these times, but they come anyway.  Sometimes lasting a couple of weeks and other times a couple of months.  I have not understood why they come and often have been afraid that maybe I have done something to cause Him to withdraw from me.  This did not settle with me this time though, because I know He has promised to never leave me and never forsake me.  I know He has promised me unconditional love.  So, why?  Why do these times come?  I did not get an immediate answer, but God is always faithful and He gave me the answer a couple of days later.

The times when God feels distant and quiet are faith building moments.  It is easy to believe when we feel a strong emotional sense that God is near.  However, when we don't feel Him, well let me at least speak for myself, when I don't feel Him it is easy to begin to question His love and loyalty or whether He even exists at all.  Isn't that what faith is though?  Faith is believeing without seeing or feeling or hearing.  It is a declaration in which I say, I may not see you, feel you, hear you or sense your presence right now, but I KNOW you are here and that you will NEVER leave me.  The Bible says, if we have even just a teeny tiny bit of faith, we can move mountains.  It is not because of us that the mountians move, but because of the power of faith in God.  It is because we believe in the One that can move those mountains even when we sometimes cannot physically feel His presence.

Unwavering faith says, it doesn't matter what I can see, feel, or hear in this physical world.  What matters, is what I know is true in the spiritual and unseen realm.  The love of Christ, who will never leave me and never forsake me.  The physical world, our body, and our senses cannot be trusted. We can't base our faith off of it.  Our faith must be based on what is unseen.

These moments of quietness are not something to be afraid of.  They should be embraced, because in these moments our faith builds and grows in our Heavenly Father.  You know, it just hit me, that having the faith of a mustard seed may not so much be speaking about the amount of faith you have, but possibly more about how strong that faith is.  A mustard seed is very small, but it grows into a huge plant.  You don't hear the mustard seed saying," it is impossible for me to grow that big."  It simply does what it was created to do and it grows and grows and grows.  It is the kind of faith I desire.  A faith not based on what I can see or feel or hear, but a faith deeply rooted in Jesus Christ that nothing and nobody can shake.

Learning to Love

A couple of weeks ago, a very foreign thought went through my mind.  I was laying in bed, looking at my husband as he slept, and I thought, "If I know who I am in Christ and my validation comes from Christ, then I no longer need to expect anything from this man.  He simply becomes a wonderful gift from God for me to enjoy....a blessing.  Precious."  Now I know beyond a shadow of a doubt this thought did not originate from me.  I know this because I have been waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay to guilty of expecting Rob to rescue me, to fix my broken days, make things all better for me, and I have looked to him to validate me as a women.  I know this thought was placed there by a loving heavenly Father who wants me to see my husband for who he really is in my life- a gift.  Jesus desires for me to turn to Him to rescue me, to fix my broken days, make things all better for me, and to look to Him to validate me as a women.  Looking at my husband through God's eyes, frees me to love Rob simply for who he is and to take great joy in the gift he is to me.  It takes all burden of expectation off of him and I know it will free him also.

This is a new concept for me and I know I have a ways to go in putting it into practice in my life.  Just Monday night, I told Rob I needed him to fix my day for me.   Really.  That is a lot of pressure to put on someone.  They simply cannot do it . . . fix your day.  There is only one person that I know of that can fix everything and that is Jesus.  I had kind of forgotten about this thought until this morning.  I took a few minutes, ok an hour, to sit down and read a few books that I am working through.  One of them is Captivating by John and Stasi Eldredge.  One of the statements in their book, brought back the memory of that night in bed.  "No matter how much Adam pours into your aching soul, it's never enough.  He cannot fill you......Every woman has to reckon with this-this ache she tries to get her man to fill.  In order to learn how to love him, you must first stop insisting that he fill you.  We say all this as a sort of prologue because we cannot talk about loving a man well-whoever he might be in your life-until we see that we cannot look to him for things he cannot give."

Wow!  The memory of that night in bed and the thought that had swirled through my mind all came back to me.  I share this with you to encourage you to join me in this journey of learning to love your spouse, not for what he has to offer you or what he can do for you, or in hopes that he will save and rescue you-but to love him simply for who he is.  No expectations.  I encourage you to begin seeking God to validate who you are as a women and as His daughter.  Seek after Him to fix your days and to rescue you.  He desires to do so.  If you are reading this and you are a single women or young lady, I want to encourage you also.  Before you seek out a spouse, make Jesus the lover of your soul.  Allow Him to romance you and find your identity in Him alone.  Become secure in Christ first and then allow Him to lead you to the man, the gift, He has for you to share your life with.  When you know who you are in Christ first, then you are free to love as Christ loves.  No strings attached.  No expectations.  Just a desire to have a deep relationship with the one God has gifted you with.  Join me!  I am excited to see what will happen on this adventure of learning to love!

A Lesson From Naaman

Wednesday afternoon, I was feeling a little bit like Naaman from the Bible.  I have poison ivy and I was thinking it would be wonderful to dip myself into a river and come back out spot and itch free!  I started to read the story of Naaman in 2 Kings and began to put together a blog about why we don't always receive healing.  However, God had another idea for taking my to 2 Kings Wednesday afternoon.  It had nothing to do with healing.  Isn't it just like God to whop me over the head with something else as I was dreaming up this blog I could write!   What He spoke to me, hit me in a very tender spot . . . tender enough that I contemplated whether or not I should put it on my blog.

So here goes.  The verse that stood out to me is 2 Kings 5:13:
"Then his servants came near and spoke to him and said, "My father, had the prophet told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it?  How much more then, when he says to you 'Wash, and be clean'?"

I often find myself placing more value on certain things then on others.  For instance, if you were to tell me that you are a doctor I would say, "wow, that is wonderful!"  However, if you were to tell me that you are a trash collector, my response would probably be more like, "ohhh, that's nice."  I find I also do the same thing with the work of the church/the work of Christ.

Missionaries, pastors, singers and song writers, healers, prophets, and evangelists are at the top of my list of people who change the world and make an impact.  I, for one, do not want to be left out.  I want to make an impact too.  My greatest desire is, when I stand face to face with my heavenly Daddy, He will say to me, "Well done, Melody!"  My greatest fear is He will say, "you did not do well, Melody.  You missed the mark."  This verse, in 2 Kings, cut deep down to this heart issue for me.  The Bible truly is active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and pierced as far as the division of my soul and spirit, of both my joints and marrow, and judged the thoughts and intentions of my heart. (Hebrews 4:12)  Ouch!  It hurts when this happens!  But, oh, how thankful I am that God loves me enough to open my eyes to see the areas of my life that need to be changed!!!!

Naaman was asked the question, if the prophet had asked you to do something great wouldn't you have done it?  If he had asked you to build him a kingdom, or supply him with food and drink for the next seven years, feed the homeless, or care for the orphans wouldn't you go do it?  But to dip yourself 7 times in the river is somehow asking too much of you!?!?!

Wow, those words came ringing back through my mind and I began to see how I complicate matters so much.  The "bigger" and more "difficult" and "great" a task is the more value I place on it.  I say "Yeah, bring it on!  I can do this and I can do it well!"  But to do something "simple" (and I am using that word loosely right now) like prayer, praise, giving thanks, walking daily with Jesus . . . . that is too much to ask of me?!?!  Again, OUCH!

This is it.  The answer I have been looking for.  My Jesus has not asked me to be a superhero.  That is His job.  He is the Saviour and the Rescuer . . . not me.  He has simply asked me to do one thing . . . Love Him.  To be willing to join Him in a beautiful, intimate relationship and to say "yes" to His marriage proposal to me.

There is no greater value on one calling over another.  Earlier, I mentioned the doctor and the trash collector.  The doctor saves lives and there is no greater calling, right?  But, so does the trash collector.  If it wasn't for all of the faithful trash collectors in this world, who sacrifice their olfactory system on a daily basis, we would all die from filth, disease, and sickness.  Both professions are equally needed.

Do me a favor.  Look up and read 1 Corinthians 12 and 13.  It talks about all of the spiritual gifts and how they are all needed.  The last verse of Chapter 12 says:
"But earnestly desire the greater gifts.  And I show you a still more excellent way."
This verse leads right into the love chapter!  Isn't that beautiful!?

In this, I have found more freedom and rest in Christ this week.  It has changed my walk with Christ.  I got a picture on Wednesday afternoon that sums it up for me.  I saw myself walking with Jesus in a garden. But instead of simply enjoying my time with Him and the beauty of all He is and all He has made, I was distracted.  I was looking for work to do.  I was looking for a shovel to pick up, a weed to pull, a row to hoe . . . then I would come frantically running back to Him.  "Did I do good?  Did I Jesus?  Did I do ok?"  Desperately desiring His approval.  My picture has changed though.  I don't have to look for work to do anymore.  I don't have to be distracted from His presence and drawn away from His side.  I don't have to do work in order to receive His approval.  It has been made simple.  All I have to do is join Him, by His side, walking with Him.  Enjoying His presence, basking in His grace and love, communing with Him, and following His example.  When I see Him take a step, I take a step, when I hear Him speak love, I speak love, when He sings, I sing . . . . It is so simple and restful.  Thank you Jesus for continuing to reveal Yourself to me!  I love you!

God's Benefits: I Cannot Forget Them

It is amazing to me how God works!  Wednesday morning, I woke up frustrated.  My mind was rehashing guidelines God has given to me in regards to food.  I was vacillating between wanting freedom in this area to eat more and trying to figure out whether or not it was ok for me to not follow the guidelines given to me.  Was I being legalistic eating the way God told me too?  Maybe I was not living in true freedom if I stick strictly to the "rules" given to me.  The questions and the thoughts went round and round in my head, until; realizing that I did not have time that morning to figure it all out, I grabbed them and stuffed them into my back pocket to think about later.  Well, God brought "later" to me that evening at church when Pastor Don began preaching about freedom in Christ.  Isn't that wonderful of God!  He knows exactly what we need to hear at the perfect times!  All the thoughts came rushing out of my back pocket and began running circles again through my head.  God knew it was time for me to begin clearing this matter up.

God did not make me wait long until He spoke loud and clear!  Thursday morning, as I had my devotions, Psalm 103 came to my mind.  I looked it up.  There lay the answer as clear as day!

"Bless the Lord, oh my soul, all my inmost being Bless His holy name.  Bless the Lord oh my soul and FORGET NOT ALL HIS BENEFITS;  who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; who redeemeth thy life from destruction;  who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;  who SATISFIETH THEY MOUTH with GOOD THINGS; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's."

Forget not all His benefits!  There it was.  I had forgotten.  I had forgotten the health, freedom, life, and joy that has flooded my life when I walk in obedience to Him.  I had let religious thinking wriggle it's way back into my mind and I had allowed Satan's lies to penetrate my thoughts.  (If this sounds familiar to you from other things I have posted, bear with me.  I learn the hard way and sometimes it takes several lessons for me to finally get it and stop rehashing the matter!)  I cannot forget His benefits!   When I am dry and thirsty, weary, worn, and frustrated;  I cannot forget the truth and what God has done and will continue to do in my life.

This morning as I was reading in Proverbs, it hit me how Satan likes to muddle our thinking.  He likes to bring religious, legalistic thinking into our minds, cause he knows it will cause confusion.  He likes to take truth and twist it.  We have been talking a lot about freedom in Christ at our church lately.  Satan took that truth, and twisted it for me.  "You are not really free if you have to follow these guidelines.  You are being legalistic.  You will have more freedom, if you just do whatever you want."  But instead of clarity and life, Satan's thoughts only brought confusion and death.  It was like a light bulb went off for me this morning. (A light I have seen before, but I guess I let the bulb burn out.)  I often feel that I am in a constant battle with my good self and my bad self.  It is what Paul talks about in Romans and what Pastor Don was teaching about Wednesday evening.  Clearly, I began to understand.  I am not fighting at all against myself, but against Satan and his lies. Our fight is not against flesh and blood!  (Ephesians 6:12)  I asked myself the question this morning:  Why would Satan twist my thoughts, cause confusion, desire me to struggle, and feel like I am at war with myself?  Because, a house divided cannot stand.  If I am fighting against myself, if I am in constant turmoil and confusion, then I will accomplish for Satan his desire for me:  destruction.  I will implode.  I know that road.  It leads to self-hatred and depression.  It leads to anger.  It is the road I once was on, but I refuse to walk that road again!  It is not who I am anymore.

Thank you God for your changing power in my life!  Thank you for forgiving all of my sins, for healing all my diseases, and for redeeming my life from destruction.  Thank you for crowning me with lovingkindness and compassion, for filling my mouth with good things, and for restoring my life!  You are an awesome, awesome God!

I am at peace again.  God's ways are just and good.  He is always faithful to complete in us what He has started.  All those confusing thoughts have left me.  They don't really matter.  All that matters is the hope, joy, peace, and life that I have found in Christ!