Maintenance Required

The sign above is on in my car. I admit that when it comes to car maintenance, I have no clue. The light comes on when I’m supposed to get an oil change, but I put it off until “I get the time”. I can hear you – “You’ll ruin your car!”. Yes, yes, I know, I know!

I think about this little sign a lot when it comes to how I’m operating my life. How many times do we look at our lives & think there’s a sign on us that says “Maintenance required”? The 20 lbs we promised ourselves we’d lose last January, but are still there. The doctor appointment that’s been put off. How about a little deeper? Knowing that you haven’t darkened the doors of a church in years because of “all those hypocrites”, but you know God is leading you to start going? What about the time with God that you know you should be spending, yet attitudes and emotions are dictating your day instead of His Presence and Word? Ouch…

Yeah, that “Maintenance Required” sign is pretty serious stuff. If neglected long enough, we crumble apart, bit by bit until one day, we crumble into a heap – spiritually or physically speaking – and left hopeless, discouraged and angry.

Proverbs 6:10-11 tells us: A little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to sleep—
11 So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler,
And your need like an armed man.

God doesn’t intend for us to live a “half-way” life. He wants us to be alert, on top of our game and living at our best. Right now, here in late November, decide that you’re resolving to change. Make the decision TODAY to get out of “maintenance” mode, repent for living below you best and start living in “surrendered” mode – Surrendered to the owner of your life who will do the daily checks (and sometimes, moment-by-moment checks) to keep you working at optimal speed.

“So let God work his will in you. Yell a loud no to the devil and watch him scamper. Say a quiet yes to God and he'll be there in no time. Quit dabbling in sin. Purify your inner life. Quit playing the field. Hit bottom, and cry your eyes out. The fun and games are over. Get serious, really serious. Get down on your knees before the Master; it's the only way you'll get on your feet.” (James 4:7-10 Message)

A Tangled Blessing

So today is Black Friday. I haven't joined the ranks of the "crazies" for 10 years. My last experience was that of yelling at a lady, who in a rush of folly, ran into Walmart & left her little child behind. He was smashed into a pole by the crowd, crying and bleeding. I yelled to her to "come get her kid" and after she did, I left disgusted at the whole process and vowed to not do Black Friday again.

Fast forward to today. So now I'm a mom - a mom of a 5 year old who LOVES the movie "Tangled". If you know anything about the Rapunzel doll, little girls all over the country are wishing for this for Christmas & it's not the easiest to find specific items they request without them already being sold out.

So I did what every loving mother who wants to bless her daughter would do: I stood in line with the "crazies" at midnight to get a Tangled bedset for my girl. Foregoing a cart (which would slow me down - oh goodness, I've become "that" woman!), I escape the crowd & wind thru side aisles, as only a seasoned-Target shopper knows the way, to get to the home department. Arriving there, I see a version of the Tangled bedset, but the design is more for a 10 year old girl than a cute kindergartner. So I grab second best, a general Princess bedding set. I go home, look online and FIND the Tangled set I really wanted, but it's sold out online too and at local stores. :( Bummed, I ask the Lord that I can find the one I want before Christmas. We had to run up to our local Walmart at 3:30 today. Right there in the middle of the aisle was a display & in the front of the box, what did we find? THE TANGLED BEDSET!!! We immediately bought it & are so anticipating seeing her little face light up to see it Christmas morning :)

But my very next thought was this: If I go out of my way to bless my little girl, how much more does God want to bless me? I thought of how God knows the desires in her heart & provided for her - regardless of "natural" circumstances. Though she is unaware of the process I went thru, she will be eventually blessed because of it. God is working behind the scenes on our behalf. He gleefully chuckles to Himself as He orders our steps. When we get off track or the enemy throws in something to trip us up and say "You'll never have that",it doesn't deter Him. The blessing He wants to give us isn't because of what we do, but who we are - His beloved children.

Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light. There is nothing deceitful in God, nothing two-faced, nothing fickle. James 1:17 msg

My challenge to you (& to myself) is to remember that He is my Father & a loving and providing one at that. He wants the best for me. My circumstances may scream that I'll never have or be, but He is always working on my behalf!

Since ancient times no one has heard,
no ear has perceived,
no eye has seen any God besides you,
who acts on behalf of those who wait for Him. Isaiah 64:4

It's All Good

He gives beauty for ashes, and provides for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes,
the oil of joy instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor Isaiah 61:3

He provides for you when you grieve. He understands your pain. He knows there’s a deep dark place where no one sees and no one truly understands the pain you’re in. Yet He gets down in there with you and doesn’t give you a scripture and a pat on the back – He sits with you and listens. There are places inside of your life where it feels like you’re trapped in a cave and alone. But He’s there with you. And better yet, He knows that place far better than you do, cause He’s been there too.

I will never tire of Romans 8:28 - And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. But what is “the good”? I thought the good meant “good for me”, what “feels good”, what I “THINK” should be good. The desire to have a child is good, right? The desire to be loved is good, right? How about the desire to feel successful – still good, right? These things in and of themselves are not bad. But we’re not working with what YOU think is good, cause you didn’t create you! That’s really hard to understand when we live in a world that tells us “if it feels good, do it”. Good, in the world’s terms, means personal satisfaction, irregardless of motive, outcome or other people.

The bible says A man’s heart plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps. Proverbs 16:9.
And it also says: But doom to you who fight your Maker—
you're a pot at odds with the potter!
Does clay talk back to the potter:
'What are you doing? What clumsy fingers!'
Would a sperm say to a father,
'Who gave you permission to use me to make a baby?'
Or a fetus to a mother,
'Why have you cooped me up in this belly?' (Isaiah 45:9 Message)

It’s pretty clear that you’re not we’re the best “captain” of our lives. We think we’re so smart & have everything in control, when we have no clue. God has the final blueprint of all. If you could just understand that He’s not some “grandpa in the sky” looking to strike you dead like some character from Disney’s Fantasia. His love for you has been for all time. I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness. (Jeremiah 31:3b.) He HATES to see you in pain from what people and circumstances have done to you. I can’t tell you “why” things happened to you. I can tell you that was not His plan for you. There is a very real enemy who wants to make sure that you hate God. He wants to paint God as someone who cares nothing about you and what you think is “good” – that He’s not on your side. This is farthest from the truth!

I could tell you Bible verses after Bible verses where God speaks to us, wooing us with His love and compassion. But more than that, it’s my prayer that you experience His love for yourself. That you know He is there with you in your pain. He sacrificed so we don’t have to – Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! (Philippians 2:6-8). He knows what grief and loss is; He’s looked death in the face. And He’s here for you today.

They call it “Good Friday” because we celebrate His sacrifice, but it definitely didn’t “feel” like a “good” day to Him. 39 lashes, a crown of thorns, a spear in His side, naked, publicly mocked, beaten beyond recognition and died of a broken heart – FOR YOU! FOR YOUR GOOD! There is a greater good. It’s bigger and better than you could ever imagine. Hold on to Jesus in the middle of the storm, He’s there with you in it.

Aware - but of what?

Breast cancer has affected my life. I am a major proponent of breast cancer prevention and desire that researchers find a treatment soon. My great-grandmother passed away due to breast cancer and my own grandma has had it a few times. That being said, I believe awareness can be better raised when people post names of those they love who've been effected by cancer, color their posts pink or better yet, support a local Susan G. Komen chapter. To post statements that can lead people's imaginations to intimate situations or items only raises awareness of the sexual depravity of our society. I understand that it might be all in “good fun”, but consider the young people who are on your friend’s list. Also consider, would you want your loved one thinking of anyone else in a sexual manner? I am not a prude, nor am I standing in judgment of anyone. If you know me, you know that my desire is for purity for those who are unmarried & integrity for those who are. Our posts are glimpses into our lives and it’s my desire to stand for something without compromising my character or integrity.

True Beauty

I can hear the names now. The laughter still tries to intimidate. Twenty years later and the taunts still try to effect who I am. I say “try” because I’m done with it and I want to help others walk in the freedom I have found.

Something always seemed to be “not good enough”. Whether it was my hair, my dress or hygiene, something wasn’t another person’s idea of perfection, and therefore, was deemed strange, weird and gross by those around me. Ever feel like that? I lived my teen years growing in foundation in my spirit of who I was in Christ, but let others determine my worth based on my appearance.

Of course, we grow and change. We learn how to better care for ourselves. I’m thankful for the women God put in my life to help teach me things to better myself – AKA “This is conditioner – use it!" :) Caring for your body is one thing but basing who you are on other’s demeaning words shouldn’t change who you are.

As women, God has placed beauty inside of us AND outside! There will never be a product that will make you beautiful. No specific brand of clothing or spritz of a fragrance can make you attractive. Here’s what the Bible says about it:

Braiding your hair doesn't make you beautiful.
Wearing gold jewelry or fine clothes doesn't make you beautiful.
Instead, your beauty comes from inside you.
It is the beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit.
Beauty like that doesn't fade away. God places great value on it.
1 Peter 3:3-4 (NIRV)

The point is I WAS beautiful because of who God is IN me all along. I let others say who I was and let their judgment become my reality. I encourage the ladies who read this blog to look at themselves. Wearing a low-cut shirt won’t make you attractive. More makeup won’t cause you to become prettier. Straight hair isn’t better than curly or vice versa. It’s your spirit that makes you beautiful. A true lady is knows who she is, accepts it, embraces her uniqueness and learns to love herself, just the way she is.

In a world that sees with our eyes, I pray for eyes that see the heart….

Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing,
But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised. Proverbs 31:30

Within Reach

Do you sometimes feel like you live in the land of “almost”? As if things are “almost about to change” or “almost getting better”. In our daily lives, the tyranny of the urgent gains preeminence above those things that you’ve promised yourself would change. They become faded dreams and you look in the mirror and see a dim version of what you hope you would have become by now.

Many people in the Bible knew “almost”. Jacob knew it. From the moment of his birth, he was grasping out, literally, to get something. Jacob so desired God to bless him. He spent years under the greedy eye of his uncle, who tricked him into marrying his daughter Leah instead of his beloved Rachel. How many of us would wait for a promise for 14 years, when sometimes it’s hard to even wait a week?

For Jacob, it seemed as if his blessing was always just within reach, but not quite there. Despite the fact that he was wealthy, had 12 boys and a girl and TWO wives, he was not satisfied. There was something lacking in his life but no amount of his own effort could bring the change he so desired. He came to a place where he actually wrestled with God and said “I won’t let go until You bless me!” (Genesis 32:22–29). It was there that he finally gave in and said who he really was - a deceiver, a swindler. It came out of his own mouth why he was always striving, always desiring more. But God knew his heart and loved him more than he knew and said “No, your name is changed. It is now ‘Israel’ – meaning ‘Prince with God’ because you have desired Me & I’m going to change you to make you more like Me.”

When you live in this place of “almost”, there are two major feelings that come: depression or anger. Depression that you’re not able to achieve the desired result and anger that things aren’t changing fast enough. People can give you metaphors of seeds and how it takes time for them to grow, but when you’re in the thick of life, you don’t want to wait. But you must! You must because in the waiting is where you grow! In the waiting is where character is formed – like it or not. Otherwise when you get to the desired result, you will lack depth to actually BE the person you wanted to be.

There’s your part and there’s God’s part. For example, if you say “I want to lose weight”, but do nothing but lie around all day, you won’t. Say to God, “Help me to lose weight. Help me to have a desire for You more than I do for food. Help me to enjoy exercise. Help my body to reject ________ (insert the food you’re addicted to here)”. Then your part is to get up, eat right and move!

The second piece besides doing your part, is to learn to rest in the waiting. How many of us are missing life because we are thinking about tomorrow? Maybe it’s not even worry about tomorrow, but looking forward to something. Life is just passing us by – our kids are growing up, our friendships are changing – but we’re not connected because we think “If I only could have that, then everything would be perfect”. Philippians 4:6-7 tells us, "Have no anxiety about anything, but in all things by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, continue to let God know what you want and the peace that passes understanding shall keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus".

God calls us to do this:
1. Have no anxiety or care
2. Tell God your need
3. Be thankful.

There is a striving to be better, which is always good. But when it becomes straining to achieve, that’s where we miss the mark. In all things, Jesus says to us “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:27). When you live in this place of peace, despite circumstances and storms, contentment will come and His Presence is always within reach.

Riddles

My level of experience should never dictate my level of faith. What I have seen happen around, to and within me may effect my emotions but not sway my belief in a God that can do and HAS done the impossible in my life.

Do I have unmet desires? Of course. Is there pain in my life I'd rather do with out? Well, I'm human, aren't I? There are many things I don't understand and never will. I love this verse which explains it well: "For now we are looking in a mirror that gives only a dim (blurred) reflection [of reality as in a riddle or enigma], but then [when perfection comes] we shall see in reality and face to face! Now I know in part (imperfectly), but then I shall know and understand fully and clearly, even in the same manner as I have been fully and clearly known and understood [by God]." I Corinthians 13:12. Take that in a second - reread it. Sometimes I know when Scripture is written, we often skip over it. Read it again!

What I see around me now is like a riddle. I can't figure it all out. I don't have all the pieces. What I know of God and myself is so small compared to how He knows me and knows my future.

Again in this verse, we see it: "No one's ever seen or heard anything like this,
Never so much as imagined anything quite like it—
What God has arranged for those who love him." 1 Corinthians 2:9 Msg

But here it gives us a clue to this "riddle", to find out what our purpose is :

"But you've seen and heard it because God by his Spirit has brought it all out into the open before you." - It's the Holy Spirit who shows us and leads us to God's perfect path for our lives.

Isn't it crazy how "religion" has wanted to block out the Holy Spirit from our lives?! But God says explicitly that it's ONLY by His Holy Spirit that those things that He has arranged for us will come to the light by letting the Holy Spirit in and Him showing us what needs to change and which direction to take. The Holy Spirit is that still small voice within you. He comes to comfort, convict (not condemn) and change. He comes to you by invitation - He's never pushy. It's like God is saying to you "How much do you want of Me?" and if you want more, you ask for His Holy Spirit to come into your life. Jesus comes into your heart at salvation because of His sacrifice on the cross and how He redeemed your life from destruction and bought you back from the devil with loving kindness (Romans 3:23 & Jeremiah 31:3) But there's so much more!

So many people today say religion is dead cause it's boring and there's nothing happening - and it's true! People are done with religion! I'm done with religion! We desire a relationship that has POWER! Power to change, power to heal, power to bring peace in the midst of chaos. We desire to see God move in ways we hear about in other countries but don't see here. And why? Because of unbelief, because of sin, because of not letting the Holy Spirit in as a part of their lives.


Today I choose not to be ruled by emotions, circumstances, and "facts" but by the TRUTH of God's Word and to walk according to His Spirit's direction and not by my own floundering ways. I'm done with lip-service and singing songs from books & off screens that aren't' what I live and know to be true. God is the same yesterday, today and forever. He is faithful. What He promised, He will bring to pass. Rest assured, you are not forgotten. You are loved. Keep pressing forward!