Monday, November 29, 2010
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Thankfulness in All Things
"Is it really possible? Has another year passed?" I thought this Sunday after church as my husband and I were pulling up frozen weights by net handles out of a sea of plastic wrapped carcasses, in search of the perfect bird. "Do I really want to cook a turkey, didn't I just do this last week?" Then came a trickle of memories of the year's past, then the trickle became a stream, followed by a flood. Good days and bad days, that had all been shoved back and tucked away in my mind, began to fly through my head. They reminded me that indeed, twelve months have passed since I wrestled a slippery, goose pimpled, headless monster in my sink. I guess the thinking on these things, coupled with a really good sermon on the sovereignty of God, added up to the question that followed, "Am I thankful?"
This hasn't been the easiest of years. Nothing catastrophic in and of itself, just the overwhelming gnawing of seemingly unresolved problems and uncertainty. My heart has at times felt exhausted and overrun. I have questioned God and wondered, even yelled, "Have you forgotten? Hellooooo?"
Yet, as I look back, I can see that by God's hand, the bad times were carefully and creatively matched with good and sweet moments, and at times met with new and old family in Christ. There has been an answer for every grief, a gentle kiss from the Father, offering blessing that would have been missed if He had spared me the pain. It is evident that God is truly in control and He has allowed each of these difficulties to come so that I might grow to a better understanding of Him and how He loves me.
Our God allows the trials and tests to strengthen us for the good works He has prepared in advance to do. In His loving wisdom He exercises our faith, challenges our hope, and demands our trust. He calls us to join Him as He looks deep within our hearts and considers our motives. The landscape of our hearts can be such a difficult view to take in, with barren areas, miry pits, and ugly walls of stone... But if we honestly appraise the condition (Psalm 139:23) and willingly hand over the deed to what might otherwise appear to be useless space, our Master Gardener will begin to cultivate a garden that is as abundant as it is lovely in the fruits of His Spirit. Some of this work is only possible by the Father's miraculous hand, but much of it He will ask us to do under His loving guidance. Uprooting the dead and lifeless, pruning back the useless, and tearing down walls that keep us from fully experiencing Him. (John 15:1-16) We will see the voids well up with streams of living water and never run dry. Yet none of this is possible without sharp tools, elbow grease, and dirty knees. Knees that learn to love being bent in worship and service, because of the amazing view that is provided from that place of humility while we weed the garden of our hearts under the light of His presence. A garden of retreat and a place meet with our Father. A place to pick fruit that we can pelt at the troubles that come, just kidding, "pelting" is probably not the best metaphor albeit satisfying to think of at times! All in all, it is nothing short of amazing that He can redeem the dirt of our lives, and from it, bring forth such bounty! (Romans 8:28) He is ABLE!
So... YES! I am thankful! Thankful for the opportunity to struggle, as weird as it may sound and as strange as it is to write. The Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, "give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." Thanks that God would carefully craft the path of my life to involve tailored obstacles to challenge me and establish my dependence on Him. (Matthew 4:4) After all, the joy of the Lord is our strength! (Nehemiah 8:10) What He asks us to give is only that which we have already received according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus! (Philippians 4:19) Thank You Lord, for loving us enough to prevent us from getting too comfortable, so that we might seek Your face, find You and know You more! (Jeremiah 29:13)
So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. Colossians 2:6-7
You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent. LORD my God, I will praise you forever. Psalm 30:11-12
But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who long for your saving help always say, “The LORD is great!” Psalm 70:4
Bible references from the New International Version.
This hasn't been the easiest of years. Nothing catastrophic in and of itself, just the overwhelming gnawing of seemingly unresolved problems and uncertainty. My heart has at times felt exhausted and overrun. I have questioned God and wondered, even yelled, "Have you forgotten? Hellooooo?"
Yet, as I look back, I can see that by God's hand, the bad times were carefully and creatively matched with good and sweet moments, and at times met with new and old family in Christ. There has been an answer for every grief, a gentle kiss from the Father, offering blessing that would have been missed if He had spared me the pain. It is evident that God is truly in control and He has allowed each of these difficulties to come so that I might grow to a better understanding of Him and how He loves me.
Our God allows the trials and tests to strengthen us for the good works He has prepared in advance to do. In His loving wisdom He exercises our faith, challenges our hope, and demands our trust. He calls us to join Him as He looks deep within our hearts and considers our motives. The landscape of our hearts can be such a difficult view to take in, with barren areas, miry pits, and ugly walls of stone... But if we honestly appraise the condition (Psalm 139:23) and willingly hand over the deed to what might otherwise appear to be useless space, our Master Gardener will begin to cultivate a garden that is as abundant as it is lovely in the fruits of His Spirit. Some of this work is only possible by the Father's miraculous hand, but much of it He will ask us to do under His loving guidance. Uprooting the dead and lifeless, pruning back the useless, and tearing down walls that keep us from fully experiencing Him. (John 15:1-16) We will see the voids well up with streams of living water and never run dry. Yet none of this is possible without sharp tools, elbow grease, and dirty knees. Knees that learn to love being bent in worship and service, because of the amazing view that is provided from that place of humility while we weed the garden of our hearts under the light of His presence. A garden of retreat and a place meet with our Father. A place to pick fruit that we can pelt at the troubles that come, just kidding, "pelting" is probably not the best metaphor albeit satisfying to think of at times! All in all, it is nothing short of amazing that He can redeem the dirt of our lives, and from it, bring forth such bounty! (Romans 8:28) He is ABLE!
So... YES! I am thankful! Thankful for the opportunity to struggle, as weird as it may sound and as strange as it is to write. The Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, "give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." Thanks that God would carefully craft the path of my life to involve tailored obstacles to challenge me and establish my dependence on Him. (Matthew 4:4) After all, the joy of the Lord is our strength! (Nehemiah 8:10) What He asks us to give is only that which we have already received according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus! (Philippians 4:19) Thank You Lord, for loving us enough to prevent us from getting too comfortable, so that we might seek Your face, find You and know You more! (Jeremiah 29:13)
So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. Colossians 2:6-7
You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent. LORD my God, I will praise you forever. Psalm 30:11-12
But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who long for your saving help always say, “The LORD is great!” Psalm 70:4
Bible references from the New International Version.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus
Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His Glory and Grace...
Helen H. Lemmel
Oh, how messy life can be! You might feel as though you've got it all pretty squared away and the things of life are moving along in the right direction... and WHAM! Someone, or something, puts a kink in your air hose and you find yourself fighting to reach the surface of sanity and for a breath of relief. All of a sudden, you are struggling to keep your head above the waters of despair, grief, anger, fear, or all of the above. We fight against the feelings of being overwhelmed, or at other times, we are paralyzed by worry and anxiety over tragedy and other things out of our control. After exhausting and draining every bit of our waning energy, we fall into bed at night unable to sleep and recharge as we rehearse our next move, think through the worst case scenarios, or spend worry on the endless possibilities.
WHY? Why do we even attempt to battle, defend, work, run and manipulate when the Word of God clearly tells us to rest... Rest in Him. Sisters, when we carry on out of our own strength and determination in the throws of trouble, we are disobeying direct orders from our Commander in Chief and we sin. Why do we press on in pride trying to handle things on our own? It makes no sense, yet I have struggled with this time and again. We tell the Almighty God of the universe, Creator of heaven and earth, that we are grateful that He sent His Son to die for us and raised Him from the dead. However, our actions are in contrast saying, "I don't trust You to take care of me or my problems. I got this one, I'll handle it." I might as well say to the Father, "I can throw my hands up in worship before a congregation of people, I will tell of Your wonders and grace, but I will not trust You to save me, carry me or heal me." Sisters, if this is all there is to Christianity and we are left alone to fend for ourselves, then why make Jesus our Lord and SAVIOR in the first place?
The beauty and blessing of being a child of the Most High God, is that He promises to love us, protect us, and use ALL things, even the greatest tragedy, for our good! He can redeem it all! All we must do is learn to rest and trust in Him. (Psalm 37:7) This may be difficult in the beginning, not because He makes it so, but because our flesh does. Although, if we continually call on Him for His peace that passes all understanding, and if we take every thought captive and hold them up to the light of His Word and Truth; He will train our hearts and minds to die unto our flesh and rest in His strong, capable, and loving arms.
It is in these times that our wonderful God draws us near if we will stop for a moment, ignore the whirling winds around us and listen to His calling... Calling to be still, stand and watch as He takes what we have, even the worst we can imagine, and see Him create beauty from ashes. (Ephesians 6:13, Isaiah 61:3) He will draw back the choking waters about our heads and turn it into wine that is sweet to our lips. He will strengthen our weary backs burdened with the things of life and uphold us with His mighty right hand. (Isaiah 41:10)
Oh, believe me, I can complain with the best of them in the midst of such worrisome and grievous days! Although, when I stop and press into Him instead, I find that these are some of the greatest moments with my Father. I now look forward to those times, ones so personally miraculous that they are indelibly written on my mind and spirit and can be recalled when other dark days come. Not to say that I want to invite trouble, but there is nothing like the moment when I finally decide to hold out my hands and give up my pathetic attempts to control my situation and life... and He lifts the burden from me, and I can almost tangibly feel the weight depart as His gentle love surrounds me. It is then that my light and momentary troubles seem to wash away. I can breath again and that deep indwelling joy begins to bubble back up to the surface and overflow, in the knowing that all of these things will be used for an eternal glory that will outweigh them all! (2 Corinthians 4:16-18) I love that place. That place in Him, where my spirit can find rest.
Will you hold out your troubles to Him today, and trust Him to complete the good work He started in your life? (Philippians 1:6) Will you allow Him to be more than just a passing thought or prayer at the dinner table, and allow Him to be your Savior? Your Friend? Your Protector? Your Provider? Your Rock? He is waiting for you, dear Sister, and He is able!
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
Ephesians 3: 17-19 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. (New Living Translation)
Psalm 27:1 The LORD is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid?
Isaiah 41:10 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Bible references from the New International Version, unless otherwise noted.
Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His Glory and Grace...
Helen H. Lemmel
Oh, how messy life can be! You might feel as though you've got it all pretty squared away and the things of life are moving along in the right direction... and WHAM! Someone, or something, puts a kink in your air hose and you find yourself fighting to reach the surface of sanity and for a breath of relief. All of a sudden, you are struggling to keep your head above the waters of despair, grief, anger, fear, or all of the above. We fight against the feelings of being overwhelmed, or at other times, we are paralyzed by worry and anxiety over tragedy and other things out of our control. After exhausting and draining every bit of our waning energy, we fall into bed at night unable to sleep and recharge as we rehearse our next move, think through the worst case scenarios, or spend worry on the endless possibilities.
WHY? Why do we even attempt to battle, defend, work, run and manipulate when the Word of God clearly tells us to rest... Rest in Him. Sisters, when we carry on out of our own strength and determination in the throws of trouble, we are disobeying direct orders from our Commander in Chief and we sin. Why do we press on in pride trying to handle things on our own? It makes no sense, yet I have struggled with this time and again. We tell the Almighty God of the universe, Creator of heaven and earth, that we are grateful that He sent His Son to die for us and raised Him from the dead. However, our actions are in contrast saying, "I don't trust You to take care of me or my problems. I got this one, I'll handle it." I might as well say to the Father, "I can throw my hands up in worship before a congregation of people, I will tell of Your wonders and grace, but I will not trust You to save me, carry me or heal me." Sisters, if this is all there is to Christianity and we are left alone to fend for ourselves, then why make Jesus our Lord and SAVIOR in the first place?
The beauty and blessing of being a child of the Most High God, is that He promises to love us, protect us, and use ALL things, even the greatest tragedy, for our good! He can redeem it all! All we must do is learn to rest and trust in Him. (Psalm 37:7) This may be difficult in the beginning, not because He makes it so, but because our flesh does. Although, if we continually call on Him for His peace that passes all understanding, and if we take every thought captive and hold them up to the light of His Word and Truth; He will train our hearts and minds to die unto our flesh and rest in His strong, capable, and loving arms.
It is in these times that our wonderful God draws us near if we will stop for a moment, ignore the whirling winds around us and listen to His calling... Calling to be still, stand and watch as He takes what we have, even the worst we can imagine, and see Him create beauty from ashes. (Ephesians 6:13, Isaiah 61:3) He will draw back the choking waters about our heads and turn it into wine that is sweet to our lips. He will strengthen our weary backs burdened with the things of life and uphold us with His mighty right hand. (Isaiah 41:10)
Oh, believe me, I can complain with the best of them in the midst of such worrisome and grievous days! Although, when I stop and press into Him instead, I find that these are some of the greatest moments with my Father. I now look forward to those times, ones so personally miraculous that they are indelibly written on my mind and spirit and can be recalled when other dark days come. Not to say that I want to invite trouble, but there is nothing like the moment when I finally decide to hold out my hands and give up my pathetic attempts to control my situation and life... and He lifts the burden from me, and I can almost tangibly feel the weight depart as His gentle love surrounds me. It is then that my light and momentary troubles seem to wash away. I can breath again and that deep indwelling joy begins to bubble back up to the surface and overflow, in the knowing that all of these things will be used for an eternal glory that will outweigh them all! (2 Corinthians 4:16-18) I love that place. That place in Him, where my spirit can find rest.
Will you hold out your troubles to Him today, and trust Him to complete the good work He started in your life? (Philippians 1:6) Will you allow Him to be more than just a passing thought or prayer at the dinner table, and allow Him to be your Savior? Your Friend? Your Protector? Your Provider? Your Rock? He is waiting for you, dear Sister, and He is able!
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
Ephesians 3: 17-19 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. (New Living Translation)
Psalm 27:1 The LORD is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid?
Isaiah 41:10 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Bible references from the New International Version, unless otherwise noted.
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My 95 year old Grandpa sends me pictures to remind me of home :) I love his perspective and thoughtfulness.