Jack in the Box

"Don't be surprised by these fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you." 1 Peter 4:12. Just like a Jack in The box when we were little, we knew what to expect. We knew that while we were going along our merry way and bobbing our head to the music that that scary little joker was going to jump out at some time. It's the same with life. We're going along and up pops Satan. We never know when but we have to learn to expect it. And we have to become people who act according to God's word and his love and not people who react to surprises that pop up. It's no surprise that we are going to share in the sufferings of Christ, 1 Peter 4:13, Romans 8:17, Philippians 3:10. Satan is going to pop up and if he can't get us one way he'll come with another strategy to attempt to take us down. We have to be a people that expect that and are ready for it. In Genesis it says, "What Satan intends for evil God will work out for good."  That is our confidence! That is the rock on which we stand. Though I tremble upon the rock the rock never trembles under me. Be ready, watchful, alert knowing that our enemy is seeking daily to destroy, divide and devour 1 Peter 5:8. If we are not grounded in God's word and have a closeness and intimate relationship with our God we will be taken down by those tactics and evil intentions. 

We are not little vulnerable sheep out here alone trying to survive. We belong to the shepherd and he watches over his flock day and night. He fights off the attacks of the bears and the lions that try to hurt his flock. We have to ingrain a mindset into our brain that though we feel alone sometimes we are never alone. His presence and his power, his might and his love are not only surrounding us but indwelling in us. The same Spirit that Rose Christ from the dead dwells in us. Romans 8:11. I know it sounds trite but when these trials and storms come we must keep our eyes on the Lord and his promises. The minute we take our eyes off of him we are swept over by the winds in the waves. Only he can command the storms to be calm. However, he will allow storms because that's what grows us. He knows that when we grow in him we will not be victims in this life but victors in him. 1st Thessalonians 5:17 says to pray without ceasing. That means to be constantly, moment by moment plugged in to God. Being thoughtful, prayerful, mindful... Rejoicing and praising him in the confidence of knowing that he is in control. 

Do not be surprised, be ready.

Colossians 3:15

"Let the Peace of Christ rule in your hearts... " Colossians 3:15 

The key word here is " let". In my daily devotional today it said, "The command is to “let the peace of Christ rule.” Another way to say that is to surrender, yield to the direction of the peace of Christ. So much of our anxiety is because we are grasping for control rather than learning to surrender." Isn't it amazing how one little word can create a paradigm shift so profound that your viewpoint on a subject goes from impotent to potent! 

"Let", infers that the peace is already there in Christ. It's just making that decision to stop, relax our shoulders, unclench our teeth, breathe and accept the gift of peace that is readily available for us. So many of us think that peace is like a carrot dangling from a stick and if we're good enough we will get some. That's not God's character at all. I believe that every gift from God can be received with Grace if we were to deal with our preconceived distorted images of him first. Then, the walls come down and we, like children, grasp at what we already know he wants us to have. We have so many walls built up because we don't believe that he could love us as much as he does. That's why he calls us to be innocent like little children. (Matthew 18:3).

Today, let's keep prayers poised and ready to offer up to him repeatedly. Lord God, let your peace flow into me right now. Lord God, let your wisdom flood my mind right now. Lord God, let your unconditional love replace my shame and guilt. Lord God, let your faith and joy overcome my feelings of doubt or depression. Lord God, let your hope reign in my mind and heart as it suffocates any discouragement. Lord God, Let.....

Our God doesn't just ask us to bow our heads in prayer but he also asks us to reach our hands out and up like little children. It's okay to reach up and ask him to pick you up and hold you for a bit. It's okay to open up your hands to him and tell him that you need wisdom for a decision. It's okay to humbly and innocently with palms up ask him to let his peace flow into your troubling circumstances. His heart longs for us to want to be with him and receive his gifts. So let him.

James1:5 "who gives freely to all without finding fault"

Heavy Wet Blanket

It's our human nature to default into a mindset of hopelessness when we are in a time of waiting. When everything around us seems to be falling apart, and dark clouds are looming we can succumb to that easily. Especially when the time of waiting is long. Our only hope is in Christ. To read his word that speaks so lovingly over us. As his children we are set apart in him completely forgiven and completely loved. There is no condemnation in Christ. (Romans 8:1)

Like a caterpillar that is bound by a cocoon we must push and exercise and be relentless in our transformation. In Christ we have the hope of becoming a butterfly. However, we sometimes feel that that freedom will not happen until he comes for us. But it is available to us in the waiting. We don't wait passively but through him we confidently and strenuously push through our feelings and circumstances. Our freedom is in our believing. It is in our hope in Christ. 

Feelings are a powerful force but our mindset, that we choose to have and the power of Christ in US is much more powerful. The key to our prison cell is the words of hope that Christ spoke in the New testament. It's in the words that the prophets spoke of in the Old testament. We have the key, the word of God. We just need to make sure to leave the cell and to walk in his power, going forward relentlessly in his strength, love and Hope. Throwing off that heavy wet blanket of emotions that are deceitful and putting on the robe of Glory and light is what gives us the courage to walk into freedom.

Train your mind to choose our hope in Christ over any lies that our mind or the enemy tells us. It's a moment by moment choice to rewire our thought patterns. We have several acres of property and every spring the grapevine starts taking over every plant and tree. If we don't cut it down at the root it will destroy everything beautiful. That's how we must think when it comes to our thoughts. Destroying lies at the root and creating new thoughts filled with hope and beauty. It's a choice but if we stay faithful in fighting this battle with the Holy Spirit we will see the fruit of that work which is Hope. Never give up and never stop pushing through. As hard as it is to get out from under a big, heavy wet blanket, Romans 5:3-5 says, "Suffering produces perseverance, which in turn creates character and Hope."

John 16:7 says, "It is better that I leave you now because I will send you the Holy Spirit, the Helper, the Comforter." Jesus was physically present with the disciples but the Holy Spirit  indwells us. We are not alone and he has given us everything we need to survive this earthly terrain. And not just this earthly terrain but to battle the powers and principalities that are constantly at war to derail us.

I encourage all of us to daily put on the Armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-20) and draw our sword of the spirit which is the Word of God to slay any lies or emotions that get in our way. Is it exhausting? Yes, but Christ empowers us not only by making us soldiers who battle in His strength as he goes before us. But, also by the blessings of rest and the joy of our salvation. Walk with him 24/7, 365, keep your lamps full (Matthew 25:1-13) and your eyes gazing upward. For he is coming soon. (Thessalonians 4:16)

Come on in

    2 Corinthians 1:4-12 says,

"Therefore, since through God's mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the Word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus's sake. For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

    But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed."

    Jesus is the only person who has ever chosen to be born. He left his father's side, through great compassion, to have a relationship with us. His plan is to be the light that guides us to our eternal Heavenly home. To gather us into relationship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. For God to enjoy his children and for his children to enjoy their God. Jesus is the Light of Life.

    Do you feel oppressed by darkness around you. Is there fear in your heart? Does the pressure seem insufferable? Is there confusion in your mind? Is your grieving for the Lost overwhelming? Take heart children of God, for he has overcome the world. 

    "These things I have spoken to you so that in me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but have courage; for I have overcome the world." John 16:33

    We may feel or be hard-pressed, abandoned, perplexed or even struck down, but the compassion, comfort, guidance, kindness and love of the Holy Spirit is available to us every moment. Like a fresh spring well that we can dip into whenever we are parched or weary. My gut was twisting with some emotional pain the other night and I quickly called upon the Holy Spirit to comfort me. The comfort of the God of the universes was upon me instantly. He never fails to be faithful.

    Do we still feel fear at times? Yes. It's an emotion that can be used to warn us or to make us change for the better. When God says do not fear, I imagine him asking me why I'm standing in the storm trembling, cold, wet, and terrified. When, I have an open invitation from him to come under his wing of protection to find shelter, refuge and peace amid the storm. I envision him saying, "Do not fear, come in here." 

Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be open to you. Matthew 7:7-8

I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore, with loving kindness I have drawn you. Jeremiah 31:3

With his feathers he will cover you, and under his wings you will find refuge. His truth will be your shield and armor. Psalm 91:4

'Do not fear, come in here."

Falling Apart or Together?

When caged by a problem, we have a choice. We can flap, panic and break a wing or we can choose to trust and sing. D.A.H.

Praise will change your troubling circumstance faster than worry and doubt. Do you trust God? 

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not upon your own understanding, but submit to him in all your ways and he will make your paths straight.

Proverbs 3:5-6

When you see a situation that you're praying about looking worse, remember that you have to make a big mess when you clean out a closet before you can put it back properly. It's the same with the human heart. Trust the process and trust The Loving hands of your Lord. 

Catch and Release

How many times have you given something to God and then took it back? It seems like we cast it out and tell him it's all in his hands. Then, we reel it back in so that we can toy with it, worry over it, fret over it and try to use our own wisdom to figure it out. It doesn't take too long though to realize that we can't figure it out or work it out because it's only something that God can do. So, we cast it out to him again telling him that we trust him to work it all together for our good, only to reel it back in again. 

The pain of unresolved issues seems to torment us. We get this idea that if we just put our hand in front of God and tell him to step back because we've got this handled, that we can fix it. It doesn't take long for us to realize that we can't. We can't change a person's heart or mind. We are not equipped to know a person's deepest hurts or what lies in their heart. We want so badly to fix the situation but it is so hard to just leave it before him and trust him. We simply just want the pain to stop. 

What we forget sometimes is that God can fix anything in a blink of an eye. However, he has to work with stubborn people who want their own way and they want it now. In reality, God is never working on the people that we're having problems with without working on us at the same time. Now he has two people that want their own way and all involved are getting mad at God because he's not answering their prayer the way they want him to. 

I have been learning a deep lesson recently concerning all of this. I keep giving this situation to God but it feels like it just jumps back in my boat, which is my mind, and it flops around driving me crazy. The lessons I have been learning is that God wants to change me as much as he wants  to change other people.

When we reel it back in it's because we want control. We have not learned to still our heart and our mind and to trust that God is going before us to win the battle. It's an issue of lack of trust and control. 

When it jumps back in your boat that is God saying I need you to look at this more closely. You're blaming and pointing fingers but are you showing this other person the grace that I've shown you when you were unsufferable? Are you open to loving this person like I have loved you unconditionally?

Practicing self-righteousness or seeking God's righteousness is a choice that we have to make. If the fish keeps jumping in your boat it's because GOD wants to deal with your heart. If you keep reeling the fish in it's because YOU want to deal with someone else's heart. 

We are all sinners and we all fall short of the Glory of God. (Romans 3:23). But Lord, what are we to do? His answer is clear and that is to repent of our own judgments and to forgive the other of any transgressions. 

Boundaries regarding abuse or molestation are a whole other conversation. But when it comes to being obedient to Christ rather than our own pride we are called to act like Christ did. He sought his Father's counsel, spoke the truth in love, forgave his enemies, whether they accepted his grace or not and he moved on in love, grace and mercy.

It says in 1st Corinthians 13:4-8, Love is patient, love is kind, it does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud, it does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs, love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

I've read this scripture hundreds and hundreds of times yet, I fail at perfecting these qualities.  It's because Christ is the only one who is perfect. Our life here on earth is about surrendering to him and asking him to bless us with a mind and heart that are more like his. Each time we choose to surrender to him he grows us a little more into his image. Our desire should be to have a hunger and a thirst to be more like him and less like us. That fulfillment comes when we open our Bibles, spend time with him, pray to him, and desire his will more than our own.

We can do it the easy way or the hard way. We can change or remain. We can grow or we can be stagnant. We can be filled with joy and goodness or we can be filled with resentment and anger. Like mother Teresa said, "It is never between us and the other person, it is always between us and God." 

This world right now is filled with so much division and hatred. But God is very clear in his word that people will know us by our love for each other. (John 13:35). God is urging his children to put aside our petty differences and quarrels. He's asking us to examine ourselves first and then to forgive others for their shortcomings. May we all take this to heart and desire this with all of our heart.

Luke 6:7, Forgive and you will be forgiven. 

Matthew 6:14,15, Forgive others and your Heavenly Father will forgive you.

We have to answer these simple questions, "Would we rather be right or loved?" "Would we rather have peace in our mind and heart or turmoil and angst? Will we choose resentment over Joy?" "Do we want to be right with God or just right?" 

There is no honest and pure conversation while someone is holding a sword. Both parties need to set down there weapons and choose love, resolve and forgiveness or there will be no healing.

At the Cross

The depth of our guilt can never be understood except from the foot of the cross. It is also there that we understand the depth of his love and forgiveness.

God Always Picks Up the Call

You may not see or feel the workings of God's silent power, but rest assured it is always at work in a mighty way. And it will work for you, if you will only quiet your spirit enough to be carried along by the current of his power. 

Hannah Whittall Smith

Yesterday it felt like I was on stormy open seas and my emotions were the waves. I felt so overwhelmed with this sadness regarding a situation that is going on. I finally just laid on my back and floated in this vision. I couldn't stop the pain in my heart but I just laid back and trusted God while the storm was going on. Sometimes we just have to rest in the fact that he is in control and he is working even when we don't see it. He is in the boat (Matthew 8:24...).

This morning however, before my emotions could get a hold of me I sat up in bed and opened my bible. I asked the Lord a specific question and as usual he was totally faithful to answer it through scripture. Here are a couple of the things that he said to me. 

First of all, he put 2 Timothy in my brain and I couldn't shake it off so I knew that's where he wanted me to go in his word. Secondly, my question was very direct and his answer was also very direct. 

My question to God was, "How do I act when someone is not filled with God's Holy Spirit and they are stirring up dissension?" His answer was in 2 Timothy 2:22-26, " Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. Do not have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who is taking them captive to do his will. "

Sometimes we become so exhausted mentally, emotionally and physically when there is something overwhelming happening in our lives. Like last night, I just had to float on my back in the storm and trust that Jesus was there and I would be okay. But then we have to rise and trust him as he takes us for a walk on the water. That's where we hear him so clearly because we have nothing else to hold on to. We can walk boldly before the throne and ask anything and he will give us an answer if we seek him with all of our heart (Jeremiah 29:12-14). We just have to still ourselves to hear his voice. 

I knew that I was called to forgive my enemies but I did not know exactly how to handle when the enemy breaks into my camp. So what I did was simply call God and he picked up. He said, "Oh hello my daughter! This is a frequently asked question so I'm going to email you the book of 2nd Timothy. Check it out and listen carefully because your answer is there." 

God is faithful and you must believe that with all your heart. He never stops caring, he never stops interceding and he never stops working. His work is usually unseen. But we must trust and never doubt him. When we can smile, rest and be still knowing this, that's when we truly find peace.

It's okay to fall back into the waves and trust him, but it's even more important after you've gotten a little rest to get up and search his word. Ask him to engrave his truths on the tablets of your heart and mind. Even in the darkest of nights and the most turbulent seas he is holding you and he is faithful. It's in quietness and stillness when we hear his vioce and direction clearly.

Psalm 46:10, Be still (in your heart, your mind, your life) and know that he is God. 

Exodus 14:14, Deuteronomy 1:30, 31:8, Be still, for I the Lord go before you and fight your battles. 

We must always remember as in Job 7, that the enemy cannot do anything unless it goes through God first. So, love your enemies and pray for them, but do not engage in foolish or stupid arguments. Be kind to everyone and gently instruct those who oppose you, hoping that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will. 2Tim 2:23-26

Rest, be still, quiet yourself, trust God completely, then, give him a call (pray) and he will always pick up and he will always direct you to the truth. 

Check out: Psalm 120:1, Jonah 2:2, Psalm 18:6, Psalm 34:17

Psalm 120:1, I call on the Lord in my distress, and he answers me.

This is my personal favorite. Psalm 116:1,2, I love the Lord, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live.