Shopping in God's "Store"

“This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

This is key. Any fool can force his mouth to say "I forgive you" but unless there is a transaction of the heart, it's all for not. Only God can give us the heart of forgiveness that we need in order to truly say with our mouths and mean it in our being that we truly have forgiven the person. ( or circumstances or ourselves) It's like this, then I'm going to need to go shopping in Gods "unlimited resources store" ( play on words of course because God cannot be bought or sold) But essentially, as I walk down the isle of Gods store, I know I need to get the stuff it takes to survive in this world, and I want to do more than survive, I want to thrive. So off the shelves and into my cart goes the attributes I know only God can provide for me. I pile my cart high with forgiveness, compassion, mercy, patience and love. None of that which I got from " Gods store" today are things I can organically come up with. Those things are very contrary to the emotional responses I come up with. As I take my items up to the check out God is waiting for me. I figured I wouldn't have enough to foot the bill for all these items but it was worth a try at least. God looked at my full basket and said, " Don't worry, Jesus said He paid for that already, and it's yours if you just tell Him you need His provision. " I need it I cried!!!!" God smiled and out the door I went. I now had what I needed. Now Go home and read the Word of God so you can learn how to properly apply all your new goods from Gods store. Only God can give us what we need to live and respond as He does, and did. Thank the Lord that HE saw my bankrupt condition and my desperate need for things I cannot give myself and He made way for me. Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift.

Something New (and exciting)

In a perfect world I'd always do just what was right. I'd never feel guilt over doing the wrong thing, but in the perfect world I wouldn't feel the excitement that comes when you have learned a new lesson, and now it's time to grow.
I love (and hate) when I go through something challenging that causes me to look my folly in the face, but turn around and arise with a renewed sense of joy over who I am becoming in Christ.
The main truth that I "post it note" to my face could read, "Work in Progress."
 Not, "I've arrived." Or, "Got this figured out.." Or "Hi, my name is perfect." Contrary to what I would like to believe about myself, I DO NOT have life with Christ figured out.
Often God shakes my world, and causes me to place my eyes on Him when I get confident. I don't know if I'd say I was getting "overly confident" but I was getting comfortable. That's when God shakes me, wakes me and my passion is renewed. You know how when the fire is poked, the flames rise up again? So it is with our faith. We we are forced to examine old truths with new perspectives, or fresh eyes. When we are challenged in what we think we are "so firm" in, and find out, there is still shaky ground yet to be dealt with.
God knows my weaknesses, and it's  His job to help me see them too.
I am so thankful for a God who is unwilling to let me settle in to "good enough." God is not OK with good enough. God wants my best. God wants my full attention, and quite frankly, my attention was every-which-way and God used some things to open my eyes up to this.
It should not, but always does amaze me when I realize I've drifted.. Drifting is so subtle. It does not happen over night, but little by little, it happens.
God asked me lay down some media things I loved, but had taken a front seat in the fight for my time, and so in line with what He desires for me, I lay down whatever gets in the way of God and I.
I had to be put down a couple of passions for a while, (not that I didn't fight on it a little bit) but ultimately God showed me that HE was in control, and sovereign over my circumstances. Since then He has handed me back a couple of the things I needed to lay down, and of course, it's better than it was before I had to lay them down.
I am learning each moment to trust my Lord and King more and more. I must trust, or I will flounder. For as soon as I take my eyes off of my leader, my steps begin to wander my own way. There is no doubt in my mind why God called us "sheep." It wasn't demoting, it was truth. Sheep without a Shepherd are lost to their own demise, getting stuck in rocks, falling into pits, and even falling on our own backs unable to rectify ourselves. We lay there in our own struggle, frantic and trying to help ourselves, but to until we start bleating for help, we do not see any relief.
Sometimes we need to admit our weaknesses before we can accept recovery. Sometimes, we need to admit  weakness, before we go grow stronger.
I am getting really good at admitting my weakness. Trying not to admit my weakness, is like trying to live life holding my breath, one can only assume how long I would live. One thing I love most about God, (and there is a lot to love) is that He is so very patient with me. He never uses big blows that knock me off my feet to get my attention. Rather, He quietly whispers, gently prods, and refocuses my eyes towards His, sometimes He allows me to feel the strain in my heart that makes me take notice and the result of this approach is a heart that wants to respond.
God is not an evil dictator with me! He doesn't scream and yell my folly at me. Rather, He gentle in dealing with my sin, and before I know it, I am running back into His arms of love because I cannot find "that kind of love" anywhere else.
So what now?
Here is the really super exciting part, and I love it when I get so excited about what He is doing, (this is not human excitement, but Holy Spirit granted excitement which is something every believer can pray for!) It's fun to think about what HE might have me do today, FOR Him, WITH Him. Why is this so exciting to me? Because I get to see HIM work. Seeing His work increases my faith, and it causes me to have fulfillment in His type of way.
I'm never satisfied when I chase after my own ambition. Unfortunately I frequently forget this, and I begin to chase after my own ego, and my own plans too often. But when HE places my feet back on HIS road, I am excited about the renewed sense of satisfaction and contentment I feel. Truly, nothing about my life's circumstances  has changed, accept that God has the reigns again. And that my friends, is what makes the all difference.
You can be sitting in a million dollar lake home, eating the finest foods and enjoying all that LIFE has to offer, but STILL be discontent. You could literally have all your human heart desires, and STILL be unsatisfied. Why is this? It's sounds crazy! But that is why when a billionaire was asked, "How much is enough?" He wisely responded, "just a little bit more."
Truly, with Christ, He is always enough. And my heart longs for nothing more than what He has to offer, and what He has to offer, is all I need.
It's by the grace of God I desire Him. SO that no man could ever boast. Only God can place within  me the desire to want Him, but often I pray that He  will keep my eyes fixed on Him.
I suppose this was His answer to me.  And at times, it's hard, and I feel frustrated at how slow I learn, but HE is not frustrated with me. Rather, my patient, faithful, sovereign, all powerful God, causes me to long for Him with such a longing that all things I so desperately wanted and chased after, fall to the wayside.
I am excited for His plans. For life with God is an adventure. And adventure (new things) is something I think all people everywhere can agree is what they want to.
Who wants the "old" when they can have the "new."

"See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland." Isaiah 43:19

What a life to live. What a God to serve. What a story we will tell on our final days. And then off to eternity with Christ I will go. It's not a perfect story, but  the ending sure is.
Just think, each day is a day to start anew. Why not today? Why not.
See?  HE is doing a NEW THING! Thank you Jesus.

The Intercessor

"What an interception!" Says the sports broadcaster.
"We need to do an intercession.(intervention)" Says the worried wife of the alcoholic husband.
"I was intercessory praying for you all night.." Said the prayer warrior.
"I intercede for you day and night, on your behalf, for your best interest.." Says Jesus.

Same word. Different contexts.

I was reading in 2 Chronicles today and there was once a king named Jehoshaphat.. He was a good king, for the most part, he follow in the ways of the Lord, and he did his best to seek the Lord in all he did.
However, there was one thing Jehoshaphat did that was not good in the eyes of the Lord, he formed an alliance with one of the enemies of God's people. This displeased the Lord.
Jehoshaphat built ships to send cargo and goods to this foreign enemy alliance. God intercepted. God allowed the ships to crash, and the cargo was lost. King Jehoshaphat was informed of this by way of a prophet of the Lord, and the king saw his sin.

Do you know what I thought as I read this story? What a merciful God.
He did not allow the evil to take place, because God sees what is best. Who knows what could have gone wrong for the people of God if this alliance had been allowed to continue. And, also, how merciful that the Lord allowed consequences, but natural ones. He did not strike the king down with sickness, nor wipe him clean of his riches, rather, He simply intercepted the ships.

How many times does the Lord intercept for me I wonder.

Have you ever thought this? Those situations that we call "close calls" when we almost are sideswiped by a car, or one of our children is almost hit by a person on a bike, or our foot almost slips, but we catch the fall in time? How about when just today, my sweet small child tripped on the pavement and went flying, coming up without a scratch? Interceptions my friends.

I thank the Lord often for the things I know He does for me that I don't even see. The many times He holds my children safe, my husband safe, me safe, and the things that could go wrong, simply don't.

Sometimes it's the engine that breaks down, and I can't go to the store, so I say, "Thank you Lord." Knowing, there is a pretty good chance, He kept me from a bad thing.
How about those people who for some strange reason did not show up to work the day the terrorists attacked the twin towers? I'm sure you have heard of those stories.."They forget their cell phone and missed the bus, so they were late..." They gave their kids a ride to school so they came to the towers late, just as they were burning..."

I have heard these stories and I think, "God interceded on their behalf."

 " Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them." Hebrews 7:25

I realize this taps into the unseen, the unknown, and the somewhat difficult to believe at times. This is where faith comes in. I do not believe in  "happenstance" or "good luck vs bad luck." I believe in the sovereignty of God, and the all surpassing control of the Father over heaven and earth.

I do believe He has total control over the wind, the rain, the seas and my life. And He brings things to pass as He sees fit, and I trust Him, and take Him at His word that He is working all things for my good, I can rest in His control, and His intercession. 

He is the one I call on first in times of trial, and the One I raise my hands in praise too when things go well in my life. If something doesn't work out, although I may be disappointed at first, I pray and ask for the strength and ability to accept whatever He brings my way, and I say, "Thank you Lord" Knowing He is doing what is best.

God does not always intercede in supernatural ways. In things like school shootings, drownings, and catastrophic events that we hear of or experience, but have you thought to consider the ones He does stop? When the child is saved before the drowning occurs, or the storm that dies down before the hurricane errupts? Or the gunman that is stopped? OR the abortion doctor that is tried and convicted? Yes- many babies died by his hands, (and an adult) but, think now of the babies that will not die by his hands anymore.

God is sovereign. God is good. God does what is best for us. He is just. He is holy. And We MUST trust. For if I cannot find the strength to pray for trust, I say in essence that I know better, and my distrust turns to fear, and my fear turns to a life that is crippled by self reliance. Self reliance is a cage and a trap. The freedom comes in the letting go of our need to be in control, and we trust the Father as a small child trusts their parents. God is the absolutely perfect, (without flaw) parent. He never acts selfish. He never blows up in anger over nothing. (as earthly parents can do) and He does what He knows is best. Truly best, for you. 

So instead I lift my eyes heavenward, I pray and I fix my eyes with His, and I place my hand in His, and together we walk out onto the sea. It is not always calm at sea but as long as my hand is in His, I am held, safe and exactly where I am supposed to be.

And yes, everything else grows strangely dim.

"Thy Kingdom Come, thy WILL be done, on earth as it is in heaven." 

Time For A Heart Check

We wouldn't do it, (the sin) if it didn't first start in our hearts right?
Where does anger begin? The heart.
How about negative attitude? Our minds/hearts.
Selfishness? Envy? Bitterness? Those are all attitudes of our hearts.
So what happens when we let those thoughts turn into feelings, and those feelings turn into action?
Lots and lots of disorder and pain manifest from these types of heart attitudes, and then shortly there after, actions that cause others pain is born.
Have you ever considered that our negative words, cause the HEARER pain?
 As I am sure most of you do,I like to bounce things off of my spouse, I call him my sounding board.
And my husband is filled with wisdom so I love to hear his take on my life's issues and concerns, but until I read a few verses this morning, I never considered perhaps how my somewhat negative words, would impact my beloved hearer.

"Let your conversation always be full of grace, season with salt, so that you  may know how to answer everyone." Colossians 4:6

"Instead, speaking the truth in LOVE, we grow to become in every respect the mature body of Him who is the head, Christ." Ephesians 4:15

If it's in my heart, eventually it's going to come out of my mouth.

Here is the tricky part, IF it's in my heart. Stop there. How do I get good in my heart instead of the organic evil that lives there?
Many people will claim to be humble. Self sacrificing. Or others' focused.
But in the very claims of our humility we prove our self love, and pride.
The enemy is so crafty, he can convince us of our goodness, so we can become prideful about how humble we are. That is humanity at it's core.
I echo Paul's cry where he calls himself the "chief of sinners."
Not self demoting so much as realistic. That is what I am without Christ.
If there is any good in me, in it's Christ in me.

SO how about in my thinking?
Is there good that takes root first thing in the morning? Do I awake with thoughts of joy, thankfulness and excitement how I might serve for HIS glory that day? Well I will tell you one thing, I do not awake with this good heart attitude in my own strength.

I must fill my mind with HIS goodness if I want HIS goodness to seep out of me throughout the day.

How do I do this? (with limited time..) :)

I take the moments He gives me to be with Him. I learn from His word, I pray for His strength and I focus on surrendering every evil thought as it arises.

This keeps me in a constant state of surrender. And this is a good thing my friends.

No one is GOOD, (holy, blameless, righteous) all on their own. If we have good that pours out of us, it from the goodness He has given us, and that has been stored up in our hearts as we glean from His truth, wisdom and delightful attributes that I have learned from His word. His words are my lifeline, my starting point and my fall back.

Perhaps one day, holiness WILL be my default and negativity will take a back seat, but until Christ has infiltrated Himself into every ounce of my being, (which will not be until I go heavenward) I daily default to reading His word, and keeping myself in as constant communion with Him as HE allows.

He is my best thought every day, and the more I think on Him, the more the evil organic thinking that I was steeped in at birth can take a back seat.

All humanity worships themselves and exalts themselves in their own thinking. In layman's terms we all think we are pretty great people. We really really like ourselves.

Hard to say and see that isn't it? But it's true. No one will curse themselves. This is the kind of junk that comes out of the humans heart all by itself, and that is the kind of junk that will continue to come out of our hearts unless we ask God to wipe us clean, make us holy, and then keep us close.

That is one of my constant prayers throughout each day, "Lord make me holy, and keep me close."

I want to be so close to the Lord I can hear His heartbeat. (the things He is passionate about) and as you can picture, this is pretty close.
I don't want to move an inch from His desire, because if I do, I default to me, (bad) and then the chaos erupts in my heart again.

When I picture my bad thinking as a dead, smelly and gross fish, I am less likely to feed my thinking more of the same. But If I picture my good thinking, (the thinking that comes from Christ alone) as beautiful, growing, flowering and flourishing tree, I am encouraged to feed that tree the nourishment of good, beneficial thinking.

To come full circle, when I am filled with good, fruitful, Christ-fed thinking, it is beneficial to those around me.  And what is the greatest commandment given by God, LOVE God, and LOVE others.

Do you really think I am loving others well, (not to mention God) when I am spewing the anger, greed, resentment and bitterness and self exaltation that so naturally comes from my thinking? I'll let you answer this yourself.

But I would say that I am not.

SO, in conclusion... Out of the goodness stored in my heart, speaks the mouth.
What is in my heart this morning? Heart check time. And if what is found in my heart is anything less that attitude of Christ, then I need to realign my thinking (through the power Christ provides me) to His heart.

Be An Over-comer.

It begins with just one little thought doesn't it? The desire. The want. The wish. The "I've got have it." The revenge. The hope.
The Mind is really where the battle takes place.
If we can halt our thinking we can halt great evil from beginning.
But how?
How do we stop the thoughts? They come at us a million miles an hour, and they are deafening at times.
Take fear for example, this begins in the mind. We hear something, it comes into our thinking, and without a a moment to spare, the thoughts take root and fear is born in our hearts. We walk around trembling that what we heard of that caused our fear will most assuredly happen to us.
Or, how about discontent?
We were fine ten minutes ago, but then we saw it, the "thing" we just had to have, that is so much better than we currently have. The "it" could be any number of things, but before we know it, we are discontent and the discontent is ravaging our minds, stripping us of our peace.

"The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life, and peace...." Romans 8:6

This is the battlefield of the mind.
The Bible deals with mind on many occasions. Jesus tells us that we even so much as look lustfully at another person, we have already committed adultery with them in our hearts. (Matthew 5:28)
These are hard words aren't they? But it's the truth!

"I say to the Lord, You are my Lord, apart from you I have no good thing." Psalm 16:2

So how, O how, can we ever win this battle with the mind?
I can tell you for certain how we will NOT win it, we will NOT win by trying harder. We will not win by reliance on self.
And we will not win by avoidance.
Failure to admit, is failure to recognize or acknowledge our sin in our minds.
First we have to name our sin.
We have to call our discontent, our anger, our lust, and lack of trust, what it is. It is sin. And then we can give it over to the one who conquers sin and death.
The death that swims around in our mind is rampant. For the very fact that the discontent, anger and lust exists, proves that in our minds, their has been a death. A death of our peace, our trust and undivided heart to what God has already given us.
Let death not reign in our minds.
The only way we can live victorious in our minds, is by the reliance on, and roots dug deep into Christ. We have to tap into Christ and His unlimited resources to overcome the battle that wages in our minds.
We have to clothe our minds and hearts with our Lord Jesus Christ. We have to PUT ON His thinking. And LAY DOWN the desires of the sinful flesh that comes so naturally to us as humans.
We will always chose the ways of the flesh so long as we rely upon the flesh.

"Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not THINK about how to gratify the desires of the flesh." Romans 13:14

A person may be able to avoid sin for a time, but eventually every sin that chases us will overtake us because man cannot win on his or her own.
She or He will not win in the strength of the flesh.
The flesh is weak, and that is why Jesus came to us in the first place. HE saw our need, He recognized our inability to conquer on our own, and HE sent us HIS solution. The Holy Spirit.
"Rely on ME!" He says, everywhere on the pages of His word you can read of His salvation.
His death on the Cross that brought about a better way, a way that only asked us to lay aside our desire and need to conquer on our own, and trust Him.
To confess with our mouths, and BELIEVE in our hearts that we NEED Him beyond anything, or anyone else.
This is the key of overcoming.
We need to recognize our need. We need to acknowledge our depravity, and take up the thinking of Christ.
To put on the clothing of Christ, and let Him infiltrate and TAKE OVER our minds.

Man cannot win the battle of the thought life on his or her own. To say we can, is to believe another lie.
The lie that man can be sufficient without Christ.
Christ is my sufficiency. Christ is my narrow escape. Christ is my lifeline. And every time I call upon that lifeline, I gain victory. Victory over the desires of the flesh.
My flesh will always desire what is contrary to the Spirit.
And so here in lies the battles!!
We want it, we strive for it and we cannot have it without severe consequence. Jesus tells us of a better way, where we avoid the sin, the guilt and the consequence all together! And instead, we receive peace, contentment and joy in our CURRENT situation.
Joy in all things. That's impossible you say? It's impossible in the context of man's limited ability, but is most assuredly NOT impossible through Christ.

Is there a battle waging in your mind today? Halt the thinking with the hand of God.
Confess your thinking before the Lord, a choice is being made. The choice to stay in destructive thinking. Lay that destructive thinking down before the Lord. Call it sin, and ask for freedom. How can we be freed from something we won't acknowledge as death or sin? As you lay it down, watch as Christ ushers in His assurance, His life, His breath and His freedom.

"For everyone born of GOD overcomes the world. This is the VICTORY that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God." 1 John 5:4,5 

Scripture is very clear that we do not overcome on our own. Today, and as each day begins I confess with my mouth and believe in my heart that Jesus is my only Way, My only Life, My only ticket to truth. Truth in my thinking sounds delightful. That is what I want. There is no lie in the truth. 

"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." John 14:6

If my freedom and victory was dependent upon my own personal ability, then My friends, I would be in trouble. But thanks be to God for His indescribable gift, for He has not only given me ground to stand on, but the strength in which to fight, the tools to win, and the heart to trust in Him.
My life without Christ = Death. 
My life with Christ = VICTORY.