of things I sometimes take for granted and want to recognize and give thanks for NOW.
10) Two working (and paid off) cars
9) Our dog, who protects our family (she’s a Great Pyrenees)
8) A great pediatrician (who gave me his pager number)
7) An honorable school district
6) Beautiful sunsets
5) A best friend who “gets me” (which I fully admit is hard to do)
4) Parents who love me unconditionally (even when they don’t get me)
3) A terrific church home
2) My children’s good overall health (physically, spiritually, and emotionally)
and 1) My husband (who moves beyond a friend, supporter, lover, and confidant into something that my vocabulary cannot explain) I often forget to say thank you for the things you do. Your affection and help have spoiled me and I want you to know that my world truly does revolve around you. You are my better half and I could not have chosen a more perfect mate (for me) if I had searched the entire globe.
So to all these things…I want to give God praises for providing far more then I imagined. I am but one soul that He sees and provides for. I am humbled and honored for the gifts He gives and feel blessed to an over flow.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Friday, January 15, 2010
To Fear Is To Live
The Bible is flowing with scripture that tells us that we should fear the Lord. There is Deut. 6:13: Fear the LORD your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name. (NIV), 1 Samuel 12: 24 But be sure to fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you. (NIV), 2 Chronicles 19:7 Now let the fear of the LORD be upon you. Judge carefully, for with the LORD our God there is no injustice or partiality or bribery. (NIV), Luke 12:5 But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. (NIV), Revelation 14:7 He said in a loud voice, "Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water." (NIV) This particular word is written approximately 400 times and additional references made through others. So what does it mean exactly? I have had ideals of this word to only mean: reverence, and awe towards God, but upon farther investigation in The Word and through the Holy Spirit I am understanding it to mean: a sense of impending danger, to be alarmed in such a way to cause a changed course.
In our society today, many rely on the compassionate side of God. They say and do things they know are wrong because they have been taught that we have a kind and forgiving God. And yes that is true, but only to an extent. He is also a just and Holy God and requires that we live a righteous and pure life. In our “outer living” that can only be done part of the time because our actions are intertwined with other people and we are sinful by nature. Therefore it is impossible to remain righteous in action 100%. However, our hearts are to remain pure and focused on God at all times so that the power we pull from comes from the interaction with God and our daily relationship in Him. This will allow us to hear The Spirit more clear when trouble arises and will pull us back when we start to fall. This cannot happen if a life is continually seeking self-motives and ignoring the truths that God has given.
Another term that has recently caught my eye is “hardened hearts”. We see the idea appear in Geneses 4 from Cain after he realized that God wasn’t happy with his offering and in Exodus 17 when the Israelites’ unbelief demanded more. Then there are the disciples that questioned Jesus in Mark 6:52 and again in Mark 8:17. The connections between these two ideas are simple. When we fear the Lord, we rely on the promise that we will not let our hearts harden. He promises to give strength to the weak and protect those who keep His Word. But our part in the process is to believe that we must have complete and total faith in the wrath part of Him as well. He will let our heart be overtaken by our desires if we trust in them more then in Him. The fear is our insurance policy that when sin comes knocking at our door, He will not allow our hearts to become hardened because we are more frightened of the disconnect and the consequences that will come soon after.
God has allowed each of us another day today, which is the perfect opportunity to turn from whatever is coming between a fulfilled life and us. He gave some of His children in scripture the “warning bells” needed to return and seek where they had drifted. Some chose to listen and others allowed the hardened process to continue until they reached their demise. I ask…where are you in this process? Are you tucked safely under His wing or are you drifting in the wind? It is not to late to return now but who knows if you will have another tomorrow. Each will be judge accordingly on their judgment day and all we know for sure is that it is drawing nearer each second we let pass by.
Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it Today, when a long time later he spoke through David, as was said before:
"Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts." Hebrews 4:7 (NIV)
In our society today, many rely on the compassionate side of God. They say and do things they know are wrong because they have been taught that we have a kind and forgiving God. And yes that is true, but only to an extent. He is also a just and Holy God and requires that we live a righteous and pure life. In our “outer living” that can only be done part of the time because our actions are intertwined with other people and we are sinful by nature. Therefore it is impossible to remain righteous in action 100%. However, our hearts are to remain pure and focused on God at all times so that the power we pull from comes from the interaction with God and our daily relationship in Him. This will allow us to hear The Spirit more clear when trouble arises and will pull us back when we start to fall. This cannot happen if a life is continually seeking self-motives and ignoring the truths that God has given.
Another term that has recently caught my eye is “hardened hearts”. We see the idea appear in Geneses 4 from Cain after he realized that God wasn’t happy with his offering and in Exodus 17 when the Israelites’ unbelief demanded more. Then there are the disciples that questioned Jesus in Mark 6:52 and again in Mark 8:17. The connections between these two ideas are simple. When we fear the Lord, we rely on the promise that we will not let our hearts harden. He promises to give strength to the weak and protect those who keep His Word. But our part in the process is to believe that we must have complete and total faith in the wrath part of Him as well. He will let our heart be overtaken by our desires if we trust in them more then in Him. The fear is our insurance policy that when sin comes knocking at our door, He will not allow our hearts to become hardened because we are more frightened of the disconnect and the consequences that will come soon after.
God has allowed each of us another day today, which is the perfect opportunity to turn from whatever is coming between a fulfilled life and us. He gave some of His children in scripture the “warning bells” needed to return and seek where they had drifted. Some chose to listen and others allowed the hardened process to continue until they reached their demise. I ask…where are you in this process? Are you tucked safely under His wing or are you drifting in the wind? It is not to late to return now but who knows if you will have another tomorrow. Each will be judge accordingly on their judgment day and all we know for sure is that it is drawing nearer each second we let pass by.
Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it Today, when a long time later he spoke through David, as was said before:
"Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts." Hebrews 4:7 (NIV)
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
It Is Impossible To Not Wake A Sleeping Bear
I am not sure how ready I am to discuss this subject but I believe God is impressing on me the relevance it could potentially have on other women so please bare with me if I fumble through this a bit…
I suffered from silent depression (or not so silent at times). I think it started relatively young and probably from feeling like I had no control. Without dishing out the everyday details that we all deal with growing up in a broken society I will just say that I was forced to grow up pretty early. Some of my reality came from personal choices and some from experiences beyond anyone’s intention. Needless to say, as a result, no matter how hard I tried I would bounce from “working” on my relationship with God to throwing my hands in the air and saying if I’m going to rebel, I might as well have some fun with it. Thankfully, God’s grace steered me from doing anything to foolish but the impact of my yo-yo cycle left me dry and somewhat self focused. The pain and stress of it all consumed me to a degree that left no room for anything else…especially joy, peace, and happiness.
I like to call this type of living productive depression. Sounds like an oxymoron but in fact it could be just as damaging to one’s soul as any other form of depression. The suffer gets up, does the necessary duties such as care for kids, pay bills, and even interacts with the outside world, but inside they feel like they are living a lie. The shame is that they should be happy. They have all the blessings one could want. “Sure everyone has troubles but why does mine feel like it is sucking the life out of me?” We start to even depend on the impulsions that cover up our issues. Some may shop, clean, or look for control elsewhere. Others may drink, medicate, or experiment with life style changes. All of which will eventually lead them back to feeling hopeless and shameful.
If this is you or someone you know, understand that you are not alone. Most of the ladies I have heard open up over the last year express some of the same heartache. There is help. God provides many avenues to help one find some balance but the true source of healing can come only through Him. He is our maker, our designer, our Father. The compassion He has for hurting people cannot be understood in human knowledge but can be felt through the Holy Spirit. I know…I have experienced it. There is no right answer or quick fix. But I will say that He promises to meet you where you are and He will walk you through it. But you first have to accept His hand that is extended. I never felt worthy of such attention. I think that's why I fought the process so much. I thought I had to fix myself just enough to able to come to Him. But that was impossible. I tried. Oh how I tried. But that anger, that need to control, that pain came bursting through when I least expected it. Then the self-loathing came after such irruption and I was back where I started.
Not so anymore. I am not that woman. God has healed that girl with the most loving touches. And even though He is burning out some of those same instincts through making me walk through the fire, which can bring both tears and laughter, I am learning to cope on His strength which is far stronger then my own.
I suffered from silent depression (or not so silent at times). I think it started relatively young and probably from feeling like I had no control. Without dishing out the everyday details that we all deal with growing up in a broken society I will just say that I was forced to grow up pretty early. Some of my reality came from personal choices and some from experiences beyond anyone’s intention. Needless to say, as a result, no matter how hard I tried I would bounce from “working” on my relationship with God to throwing my hands in the air and saying if I’m going to rebel, I might as well have some fun with it. Thankfully, God’s grace steered me from doing anything to foolish but the impact of my yo-yo cycle left me dry and somewhat self focused. The pain and stress of it all consumed me to a degree that left no room for anything else…especially joy, peace, and happiness.
I like to call this type of living productive depression. Sounds like an oxymoron but in fact it could be just as damaging to one’s soul as any other form of depression. The suffer gets up, does the necessary duties such as care for kids, pay bills, and even interacts with the outside world, but inside they feel like they are living a lie. The shame is that they should be happy. They have all the blessings one could want. “Sure everyone has troubles but why does mine feel like it is sucking the life out of me?” We start to even depend on the impulsions that cover up our issues. Some may shop, clean, or look for control elsewhere. Others may drink, medicate, or experiment with life style changes. All of which will eventually lead them back to feeling hopeless and shameful.
If this is you or someone you know, understand that you are not alone. Most of the ladies I have heard open up over the last year express some of the same heartache. There is help. God provides many avenues to help one find some balance but the true source of healing can come only through Him. He is our maker, our designer, our Father. The compassion He has for hurting people cannot be understood in human knowledge but can be felt through the Holy Spirit. I know…I have experienced it. There is no right answer or quick fix. But I will say that He promises to meet you where you are and He will walk you through it. But you first have to accept His hand that is extended. I never felt worthy of such attention. I think that's why I fought the process so much. I thought I had to fix myself just enough to able to come to Him. But that was impossible. I tried. Oh how I tried. But that anger, that need to control, that pain came bursting through when I least expected it. Then the self-loathing came after such irruption and I was back where I started.
Not so anymore. I am not that woman. God has healed that girl with the most loving touches. And even though He is burning out some of those same instincts through making me walk through the fire, which can bring both tears and laughter, I am learning to cope on His strength which is far stronger then my own.
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