Sorrow? You Are Not My Master

You know, that what you worship is your idol? And what you idolize, that essentially is your master. (2 Peter 2:19b)

Have you ever considered this? The thing you spend the most time thinking about and on, is most likely the thing that is your biggest pit-fall? The one thing that you hold so tight too, and do not want to let go of for fear of loosing? Yes. That is the thing we are TO let go of. In my case...sorrow tends to be something I have a hard time letting go of. I say..."that is my pain to hold" Or that is "my thorn in my flesh.." but even though Peter begged with the Lord to remove His thorn, the Lord did not return with answers of "Yes Peter, I'll make your life perfect..." Rather, the thorn is what kept Peter running back to the Lord. That the thorn is what kept Peter confident in the Lord rather than himself. God is not cruel. He does not want us to be in pain, rather He wants us to be victorious in our difficult circumstances. It's like the parent who does not come and fish the wayward child out of every puddle they fall in. Sometimes the child has to learn either to ask for help, or how to avoid the puddles all together. You see? I have been sitting in my own puddle for quite some time. Tears streaming down, focus completely inward, eyes looking intently at my soppy state. Rather, God is saying, " Here's a towel, ask me for it. Here is a cup of warm tea to warm yourself with, ask me for it!!! Here is a fire I have built for you to sit by, come sit with me here." And I keep saying, "Oh but God I'm so cold!" and " Oh Father, you just don't understand how soppy I am!! It will take forever for me to dry..." and on I go complaining, sitting in my puddle. This is NOT the life God would have for me. THIS is not His idea of victorious living. NO. This is called wallowing. And you know who wallows? Swine. I am not very fond of swine. they stink. The snort. They live in dirty conditions, and in reality they actually LIKE the mud. I do not want to be a swine. SO, today as the Lord once again encouraged me in another layer of truth to stand up and get out of my puddle, I said once more.."OK...I'll try." And with weak arms, I struggled to pull myself up. But as I rose out of the water, do you know what happened...? He grabbed my hand. He helped me. He held me up as I shook the mud from my feet, and wiped my tears away. He handed me a towel, and held my hand as He led me to the fire of His holy grace. Grace. I took my eyes off of my lonely conditions for one second, and placed them on His plan for me, His purpose for even my pain, and this is what I saw: grace. A new beginning. A chance to begin anew. And the strength in which to do it in. That is what I received in return for my filth. I gave Him my weakness, and He gave me strength. I gave Him my sorrow, and He gave me joy. I gave Him my wet, soppy, mud soaked clothes, and He gave me hope laced, pure white linen. As I put on my new clothes, I realized, the trial was still there. I still had the thorn, but He showed me what to do with the sorrow, where to put it, and how to move forward. As I handed Him my pain and sorrows, He smiled at me. I actually FELT this smile. It warmed my soul. With tear stained cheeks, and new white clothes, I moved around the puddle, I realized wallowing, was not helping. We all have something that causes us grief. We all have something that is our "if only this was not here, all would be well..." but friends, let me tell you, you can live victorious even with your "if only." We just need to learn how from the one who gives us all we need. Our heavenly Father knows us, hears us, loves us and longs to show us what victorious life actually looks like. To thrive. Not survive. That is the goal. No more wallowing. Sorrow, although you are there...you are not my master. I have only one Master..and in His hands, I know I am held. Thanks be to God for this indescribable gift. All Praise, And Glory, And Honor are due...and In He alone, Am I VICTORIOUS. (and you can be too)

The Way To Spend A Day

-Wakeup: 6am.

-6:15 Devotions.

- Run at 7. shower at 8.

-off to work by 8:30.

-12:00 Lunch.

-5pm clock out.

-5:30 pick up kids (or dinner)

-6pm eat.

-7 till 8:45 watch tv

-9 brush teeth

-10pm bed.

So...here is a "schedule." A plan for a day. I'm sure you have one that looks similar, or much different depending on if you have children, or a family. It's a fine schedule and most likely, you are quite content, (for the most part) with how your days go. At the end of the day there is not too much to complain about, you get paid, you feed yourself and your family well enough, you get time to rest on the weekends. But yet, I still can't help but feeling like something is missing...

You may feel this way too, it sort of comes with little twinges of sadness that your not sure where they come from and why, and a feeling like you are "missing something." Not quite empty, but just a little void. Like, your staring out a window at a beautiful sunshine day, but you are anticipating the clouds that might roll in later. That sort of feeling. I've been there so I'm not really having any trouble articulating what I want to communicate. I spent many many days feeling just this way. And I was not very happy in this place.

Something WAS missing.

Let me ask you this...when you make your plan for the day, do you ask the LORD what He would want you to do and accomplish in and through your day? I mean, the time that you call discretionary, is it really discretionary? Not that you don't ever relax, because God wants you to rest also! But when you say "Lord, will you help me to organize my day in such a way that brings you the most glory, and uses the gifts and abilities you have given me to use the schedule that you see best for me? That best suits me to do your work...for your glory? It's AMAZING what happens when all of a sudden you start to look at your day as more than just "another day." More than just Tuesday or Friday. It's God's day, God's schedule. For you must know friends, HE does see what we cannot. And You can be sure He does have a day plan for you that works best for you, and glorifies Him the most. Our lives are His as Christians. We accept this right? But our days? Our every little minute by minute plan? Is that a little too much for you to consider? Well, it's not meant to be a thought that stresses you, because the very reason I am bringing this up is that you will have less stress in your day! God can organize things in such way that just works better. BUT...we have to ASK Him first. We have to see what He wants us to do, and when He wants us to do it. So you say you have "no other time to run but at 7am?" Ask Him if this is how HE wants you to spend your 7am hour. Perhaps He would rather have you do something else for Him at that time and then He will give you a hour and 1/2 at a different time rather than a rushed hour long run before work! Work is non-negotiable, we know that, but how about those 10 minutes that you sit idle at your desk? Or perhaps your rather idle the entire day? Use your work time to bring Him glory as well! Let me just stop and say WHY it is we do this friends...why we are so focused on bring Him glory, why we are so blessed to walk through a day in His strength, and His direction/guidance... We are blessed to do this because He gave up everything for us on the cross...then He so graciously sent His Holy Spirit here to guide us in all we do. We forfeit such wonderful direction when we do things in our strength rather than tapping into the all-knowing discernment of the Spirit. He can even help you make the right food choices in a day! Have you ever thought about that? Have you ever prayed this? "Lord, help me to make food choices today that honor you, and bless this body that you have made your home...that I will crave the right things, and that you will tell me when it's OK to splurge on a treat, and when you want me to eat a healthier thing?" HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT THIS WAY FRIENDS? It's transformational when we start to consider that all we do, every little thing, MATTERS TO GOD. And that He has a plan for you for ever moment of your day? So the next time you really just feel like crashing on the couch, ask the Lord? "Lord, do you think that resting right now is the best thing for me? And if it's not, would you give the energy to get up and accomplish what it is you want me to do for you?" He is not a slave driver. He will tell you to do what He knows is best for you. Even better than you know yourself. It's a radical way of thinking I know, but I would imagine that as you spend your days in a whole new way, living out a "Spirit led day" you will begin to be more satisfied, better rested, more well fed, and with more peace than if you tried to walk around your day blind. For when we make our plans, and commit them to the Lord by being in the center of His will, our plans WILL succeed. Because it will not be our personal success, but His. And He is all about making us succeed in His strength. We only need to know this: In order to hear Him, we need to be sensitive to Him, and in order to be sensitive to Him, we have to know Him...and how do we really know someone? BY SPENDING GOOD, QUALITY TIME WITH THEM. So spend your time with Him each day....and watch as He makes your day unfold in such a way that does not leave you feeling empty, unproductive or as though you have missed something...but rather you feel this: This was a good day, this was a day that the Lord Made! This was God centered day, that left me feeling as though I did something that prospered not just my life, but others life, because when you start to focus on His plans for you, you see all the little opportunities in each day that He has for you to minister to others. When we plan our days by our own desires, we always tend to factor out OTHERS. We only plan for us. This is not God's design. We were formed, placed and led to be ministers of His word, and His word constantly speaks of how we are to love others in actions, words and truth. SO I challenge you, consider your days my friends. Consider your time. This is not a guilt trip, this is a gift, and gift of a new though process that causes us to in the end, be living a more fulfilling, more joyful, more peaceful, more FILLED (Spirit filled) life. And I for one, want more of this, less of me, more of Him, = joy, peace, and contentment. yes please. I'll have some more of that.

Thank you Lord. You are so good to us to show us your loving kindness in the form of directions for our day. The truth that you even care of us, and our mindful of us causes me to be so humbled. The fact that you take the time to speak to us??? That is amazing. The God who LITERALLY formed the moon and the stars, forms our days (if we invite Him to do so) and that leaves me speechless. THANK YOU LORD!!!! AMEN!!!!!!!!!!

A New Direction

Much of what I blog on has been going down the road of, "what to do to live a life that is filled with the joy of Christ, the direction of the Holy Spirit, and ways to live the life God has called us to live." A long title but it the jest of it. As I have taken a few days off of blogging, (weeks?) I realized something....much I what I say sounds the same. Be Christlike, live in a manner that is worth and pleasing to the Father, be encouraged men of faith, and walk in His strength, not ours. Am I right? SO...one has to ask? What now? What now Lord? What do you have for me to write, to say, to encourage? As I have poured over the scriptures lately, mainly the writings of Paul, I am astounded at how many different ways he delivers the same message..."Repent. Be encouraged. Live a life that is pleasing to God.. DO His work that the Holy Spirit will tell you to do, but the only the way you will hear the Holy Spirit is if you are connected to the Speaker of life, wisdom and understanding to those mysteries we do not know." Mysteries that will only be explained to us through discernment that only He can give. Through ears that only are opened when we are in constant conversation with the Father, (and by constant conversation I mean staying connected to the vine) and to in return bring GLORY to the Father to FURTHER the kingdom of HEAVEN and look forward to our eternal home. ALL THE WHILE...being more peaceful, joyful and encouraged than if we avoided this whole life with Christ all together. It makes sense to me as I write it out...does it make sense to you? To live a life powered by Christ, fueled by the wisdom and discernment of the Holy Spirit...and a feeling of awesome holy reverence for the one who thought it all up in the first place...GOD. The main thing that God has been teaching to me, and stressing it's importance is this: The Whys of this whole thing. And the How's. The why is simply this: I am His. He can do with me what He wants. He can use my hands, my mouth, my feet, (you get the idea) to what He can with them THE MOST that He can with them. This is not a use and loose it mentality. (that He has with me) HE is my FATHER. And a Father LOVES his child...and wants to see HIS child succeed in the very best way possible. So that is why I feel so confident in HIS use of me. He loves me with a love powered not by selfish motives, for God cannot be impure. He is Holy...perfect and trustworthy. (trust-able) and we ought to feel VERY safe in this. Now the HOWS of how we do what we do for God, is rather simple and yet complicated. Simple because we know that we are not powered by our own strength. If we were powered by our own ability and capabilities, we would cash out at mile 5 of the marathon, for that is truly where most humans strengths, run out. NO...in all of this we are MORE THAN CONQUERORS through whom? Christ JESUS!!!!! Not ourselves. The little bit more complicated part is simply finding the time to set aside to get to know the Holy Spirit well enough to hear His voice. to be sensitive to His leading, calling and words. He has words for you my friends. He has understanding, wisdom and knowledge for you dearly beloved children of God!!! He wants to teach you things that you do not know. To give you directions that you cannot hear unless you sit, read and get quiet with Him. Worship Him with an open mind to hear what direction He may have for you. Be sensitive. You know what it means to be sensitive? To your spouse/loved one...children...friends...family? You sit...you are quiet...you still and you look intently, you listen intently and you wait until your speaker is done before you interject your thoughts. You are patient while you are being sensitive and you are calm. Is this the way you open your Bible? Are you expectant, but most of all a sensitive searcher? That is what we are called to be. And most of all, why do we do this my dear friends? We do this to be used. And when we know we are being used for the best purposes that God has in mind for us, what are then? Fulfilled. And again I ask you a question...what does the word fulfilled lead you to think of? For me it's peaceful. Content. And JOY. Isn't it joy that draws you to another? I want to be with Joyful people. People who are content. WHO are streaming out goodness from the goodness that dwells within. That is the kind of friend I want to have. And as the song that Tim Magraw sang one time about "living like we are dying..." To be the kind of friend a friend would want to have.

SO I'll leave you with that. No more questions. No more of my thoughts and answers...But just a challenge to search your hearts through Christ Jesus...Look as if to find something. Search as if you know the answer is in there. Examine as if it's your last and only clue to finding the answers you have been searching for all your life. He will meet you there. Trust Him. Thank Him. Love Him. Live FOR HIM. Be desperate for Him AND...most of all...to God be the glory.