For reasons I don't care to disclose, I'm having a really hard, emotional day today. When I'm having these times of trying to understand things that can't really be understood, I do the only thing I know how to do...I read my Bible. When nothing else in my world is logical, God's Word never fails to speak to me. Even when I am having a hard time seeing the words through my tears, His voice is almost audible so that I don't miss what He is saying.
I'm no expert in quoting verses by book and chapter. However, like most people who have spent any amount of time in church or around Christians, I do know Philippians 4:13 says "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." It's probably one of the top ten most quoted verses in the Bible. I came across this scripture today. However what spoke the most to me is written directly before this verse. Philippians 4:12 says this: "I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.
We are always quick to shout out how we can do all things through Christ when we are facing a decision or a tough task. What touched me today in verse 12 are the words "in need", "hungry," and "in want." I know God is with me on not only the days of plenty, but even on my days of hurt and tears. He can help me do all things, including grieve. He can help me process the hurt of this life. He can help me when the wounds of the past open up to fresh pain, disappointment, and anger. Even at the times when the only thing I have to say to Him is "God, why?", He understands and helps me through the things I don't understand. Not only is He here, but He gives me strength through all the emotions. He speaks to me and reminds me it's okay to cry. He tells me I don't always have to keep it all together. He tells me to yell at Him, that He can handle it.
At the end of it all, I realize I can still be content as long as God, who truly is my strength, is with me.
Monday, May 16, 2011
Friday, May 6, 2011
Destiny Derailers Part 2
Today I will be continuing from what I wrote to you about on Wednesday. This is from the notes I took Tuesday night during our training with Pastor Chip Judd. The topic was Destiny Derailers-What keeps us from reaching our full potential. On Wednesday I shared the first thing that keeps us from reaching our full potential is never fully getting our lives on track. Today I will share the second reason we fail to fulfill the potential God has placed inside of us.
The second reason we fail to realize our potential is because we miss opportunities or we refuse to grow through them. Opportunity is God's gift to you. What you do with the opportunity is your gift to God. There are two types of regrets in our lives. There is the regret of action (something we have said or done) and the regret of inaction (not doing or saying something we should have said or done). I have more than my fair share of regrets of action. I could write for days. However, if I stop and think about my regrets of inaction, I could write for months! How many times have we walked away from a conversation and thought "oh, why didn't I say THAT?" It is not so much what we said that we contemplate, it's what we did not say. There are many times God will prompt us to do something and yet we continue on our way without heeding His voice. A sign of our spiritual maturity is seeing or seizing God-ordained opportunities.
In our lives we go through cycles. There is the journey uphill and often when we reach the peak of an experience we will encounter challenges we had not previously foreseen. It is through these challenges that we grow. However, for many people, these challenges cause us to stumble or derail in life. When things are going well and life is happy, we can sometimes be blindsided by the areas in our lives where we need to grow. If we become too prideful, then God will start to deal with us in this area. If we have anger management issues, He will place us into situations requiring us to maintain our composure. Just when you start to see fruit in your life, there will be a time of pruning! Pastor Judd refers to this as the John 15 principle.
"I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples."
These pruning moments become mirrors of our life. It is during our pruning that God requires us to examine ourselves. God loves us enough to show us the things we need to know about ourselves. This also tests our faith walk with Him. Will we continue to abide in Him throughout this process, or will we derail and turn away from the call and plan He has for our lives? Satan would love nothing more for us to fall off track and live a life beneath all God has for us. The difference in maintaining our course or falling away is the size of our "want" What I want on the inside HAS to be big enough for me to work through all the "stuff". I mentioned Wednesday how I want to have a healthy relationship. I know this desire has required (and still requires) me to deal with all the stuff from my past. It has been a tremendously painful process. However, through this pain I have already experienced growth and healing in many areas of my life. I know I still have much more to work on, but at least I'm not where I was two years ago when this journey truly began!
My prayer for each of you today is that you would not get tired during the pruning. I pray as God reveals the mirrors of your life that you will begin to not only see yourself as you truly are, but He would give you a glimpse of the you He has created you to be. If you do not see a great plan for your life, I pray He begins to reveal it to you. I pray you begin to understand we were not created to simply be mediocre or ordinary. He created each one of us with specific gifts, talents, goals, and desires. You can win this battle, but not if you drop out!
The second reason we fail to realize our potential is because we miss opportunities or we refuse to grow through them. Opportunity is God's gift to you. What you do with the opportunity is your gift to God. There are two types of regrets in our lives. There is the regret of action (something we have said or done) and the regret of inaction (not doing or saying something we should have said or done). I have more than my fair share of regrets of action. I could write for days. However, if I stop and think about my regrets of inaction, I could write for months! How many times have we walked away from a conversation and thought "oh, why didn't I say THAT?" It is not so much what we said that we contemplate, it's what we did not say. There are many times God will prompt us to do something and yet we continue on our way without heeding His voice. A sign of our spiritual maturity is seeing or seizing God-ordained opportunities.
In our lives we go through cycles. There is the journey uphill and often when we reach the peak of an experience we will encounter challenges we had not previously foreseen. It is through these challenges that we grow. However, for many people, these challenges cause us to stumble or derail in life. When things are going well and life is happy, we can sometimes be blindsided by the areas in our lives where we need to grow. If we become too prideful, then God will start to deal with us in this area. If we have anger management issues, He will place us into situations requiring us to maintain our composure. Just when you start to see fruit in your life, there will be a time of pruning! Pastor Judd refers to this as the John 15 principle.
"I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples."
These pruning moments become mirrors of our life. It is during our pruning that God requires us to examine ourselves. God loves us enough to show us the things we need to know about ourselves. This also tests our faith walk with Him. Will we continue to abide in Him throughout this process, or will we derail and turn away from the call and plan He has for our lives? Satan would love nothing more for us to fall off track and live a life beneath all God has for us. The difference in maintaining our course or falling away is the size of our "want" What I want on the inside HAS to be big enough for me to work through all the "stuff". I mentioned Wednesday how I want to have a healthy relationship. I know this desire has required (and still requires) me to deal with all the stuff from my past. It has been a tremendously painful process. However, through this pain I have already experienced growth and healing in many areas of my life. I know I still have much more to work on, but at least I'm not where I was two years ago when this journey truly began!
My prayer for each of you today is that you would not get tired during the pruning. I pray as God reveals the mirrors of your life that you will begin to not only see yourself as you truly are, but He would give you a glimpse of the you He has created you to be. If you do not see a great plan for your life, I pray He begins to reveal it to you. I pray you begin to understand we were not created to simply be mediocre or ordinary. He created each one of us with specific gifts, talents, goals, and desires. You can win this battle, but not if you drop out!
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Destiny Derailers
I am going to digress today from the plan to write from the book of Psalms. Instead I want to share with you from leadership training I attended last night at my church. The guest speaker was Pastor Chip Judd and what he spoke to us was just too amazing to not pass along to all of you! The topic of his message to us was Destiny Derailers-What keeps a leader from reaching their potential. I am sharing this because what he shared does not simply apply to leaders, but to each and every one of us.
I don't know about you, but there have been many times in my life when I have stopped for a self-evaluation and thought "how in the world did my life get HERE?" As I looked at my life situation, I realized nothing about it demonstrated the life I thought I would have or came even remotely close to the life I wanted. When was the last time you seriously took the time to think about what you want out of life?
"Now they came to Jericho. As He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Then many warned him to be quiet; but he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called. Then they called the blind man, saying to him, “Be of good cheer. Rise, He is calling you.” And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus. So Jesus answered and said to him, “What do you want Me to do for you?” The blind man said to Him, “Rabboni, that I may receive my sight.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road." Mark 10:46-52
As Jesus is walking by, blind Bartimaeus cries out to Him through the crowd. The scripture says there was a great multitude. Imagine how loudly Bartimaeus would have had to cry out in order to be heard by Jesus. When was the last time you wanted something so bad you were willing to make a spectacle of yourself? Notice it mentions many warned him to be quiet. Yet, he cried out even more! The religious people will always tell you to be quiet when you are boldly crying out to God. When Christ hears his pleas for mercy, he commands him to come to Him. Until last night, I missed a vital part of Bartimaeus' actions. We are told he throws aside his garment. In his society, his garment was his business license. This garment verified his disability to those who would pass by as he begged for money. This garment was his IDENTITY. His act of throwing it aside demonstrated his faith that Jesus would heal him and he would no longer need to cling to this as his identity.
It doesn't require a doctrine in biblical studies to determine what Bartimaeus was wanting from Jesus. Yet, when he approached Christ, he is answered with the question, "What do you want Me to do for you?" How often do we look at our situation or circumstances and simply think "well, God knows what I need" and yet we never bother to tell Him. We don't cry out to Him. We are not willing to make a spectacle of ourselves. Maybe Jesus is asking you today WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO FOR YOU?
It takes courage to say you want something. It takes faith to verbalize the innermost desires of our hearts. Our wants and needs may not be as obvious as a blind man requesting his eyes to be healed. Until you admit you want something, you will settle for whatever life gives you. The greatest area this applies in my life is in my relationships. For most of my life, I didn't admit I wanted to have a healthy dating relationship. I was willing to settle for the crumbs from the table that anyone was willing to give me. It was not until I admitted my desire for a God-designed relationship and marriage that I stopped settling for the crumbs of the world. Now, this has meant I've been single for a long time, but I know it is because God has the ONE chosen for me. It takes courage to say "no, I'm not okay with sex before marriage because I know it is NOT God's plan." However, I am willing to make a spectacle of myself because I want the relationship bad enough. I want a man who will honor both me, and more importantly God, enough to be willing to wait.
The first reason people get derailed from their destiny is simply because they never really get on track in the first place. We never reach our destiny because we never get started. I pray you take the time today to reflect on what you really want out of this life. Not what your parents want for you. Not what your siblings want for you. Not what anyone else has ever wanted for you, but what YOU want out of this life. Each and every one of us only get one chance at this journey called life. There are no retakes or do-overs. Don't waste another minute hiding behind the plan of someone else. Step out with courage and tell God what you want Him to do for you so you can reach the full potential He has already placed inside of you!
**My message on Friday will be about the second reason we become derailed. I can't wait to share with you!**
I don't know about you, but there have been many times in my life when I have stopped for a self-evaluation and thought "how in the world did my life get HERE?" As I looked at my life situation, I realized nothing about it demonstrated the life I thought I would have or came even remotely close to the life I wanted. When was the last time you seriously took the time to think about what you want out of life?
"Now they came to Jericho. As He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Then many warned him to be quiet; but he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called. Then they called the blind man, saying to him, “Be of good cheer. Rise, He is calling you.” And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus. So Jesus answered and said to him, “What do you want Me to do for you?” The blind man said to Him, “Rabboni, that I may receive my sight.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road." Mark 10:46-52
As Jesus is walking by, blind Bartimaeus cries out to Him through the crowd. The scripture says there was a great multitude. Imagine how loudly Bartimaeus would have had to cry out in order to be heard by Jesus. When was the last time you wanted something so bad you were willing to make a spectacle of yourself? Notice it mentions many warned him to be quiet. Yet, he cried out even more! The religious people will always tell you to be quiet when you are boldly crying out to God. When Christ hears his pleas for mercy, he commands him to come to Him. Until last night, I missed a vital part of Bartimaeus' actions. We are told he throws aside his garment. In his society, his garment was his business license. This garment verified his disability to those who would pass by as he begged for money. This garment was his IDENTITY. His act of throwing it aside demonstrated his faith that Jesus would heal him and he would no longer need to cling to this as his identity.
It doesn't require a doctrine in biblical studies to determine what Bartimaeus was wanting from Jesus. Yet, when he approached Christ, he is answered with the question, "What do you want Me to do for you?" How often do we look at our situation or circumstances and simply think "well, God knows what I need" and yet we never bother to tell Him. We don't cry out to Him. We are not willing to make a spectacle of ourselves. Maybe Jesus is asking you today WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO FOR YOU?
It takes courage to say you want something. It takes faith to verbalize the innermost desires of our hearts. Our wants and needs may not be as obvious as a blind man requesting his eyes to be healed. Until you admit you want something, you will settle for whatever life gives you. The greatest area this applies in my life is in my relationships. For most of my life, I didn't admit I wanted to have a healthy dating relationship. I was willing to settle for the crumbs from the table that anyone was willing to give me. It was not until I admitted my desire for a God-designed relationship and marriage that I stopped settling for the crumbs of the world. Now, this has meant I've been single for a long time, but I know it is because God has the ONE chosen for me. It takes courage to say "no, I'm not okay with sex before marriage because I know it is NOT God's plan." However, I am willing to make a spectacle of myself because I want the relationship bad enough. I want a man who will honor both me, and more importantly God, enough to be willing to wait.
The first reason people get derailed from their destiny is simply because they never really get on track in the first place. We never reach our destiny because we never get started. I pray you take the time today to reflect on what you really want out of this life. Not what your parents want for you. Not what your siblings want for you. Not what anyone else has ever wanted for you, but what YOU want out of this life. Each and every one of us only get one chance at this journey called life. There are no retakes or do-overs. Don't waste another minute hiding behind the plan of someone else. Step out with courage and tell God what you want Him to do for you so you can reach the full potential He has already placed inside of you!
**My message on Friday will be about the second reason we become derailed. I can't wait to share with you!**
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