Day 15: Drawing Closer to God (Good vs Pefect)

It is a question that comes up sometimes in counseling of my clients. Why would God make us with weaknesses? I woke early this morning and tossed and turned in bed hoping to get back to sleep but ended up thinking about this question. My early morning thinking is by far the clearest and often God gives me such clarity on things in those early morning hours when I don't yet want to crawl out of bed. I rejoice in the Lord for this time of clarity on perfection and weakness. I, myself, have always just thought of humans as imperfect and we are but only because we have our sinful nature that has been passed down to each of us from Adam and Eve. But, this took me back to when God created Adam and Eve and the whole of creation. His comment about what he created wasn't it is perfect; he said "it is good". My answer to the question really remains the same as what I have been instructing my clients. God created a "good" creation that was designed to be in relationship with him. To have this relationship, we have connect to him through our spirit's because God is a spiritual being. Adam and Eve had that connection from the start. They had all of their needs met and any weaknesses they had were overcome solely because they were dependent on God. But they wanted their independence and our sinful nature had begun. Our sin keeps us from connecting spirit to spirit with our holy God. However, God knew even as he was creating Adam and Eve of what was to come and already had a plan in place to send his son to us, that we may regain the connection to his spirit and be back in real relationship with him. Jesus was the perfect man. This is possible because like Adam and Eve before the fall into sin, he was connected and relying on his Father. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, therefore he had the connection from the womb and on into our fallen world. It is through Jesus that we can regain the connection and allow the Holy Spirit to overcome our weaknesses, enhance our strengths and fulfill all our needs.

Day 10: Drawing Closer to God (Communicating Challenges Faced)

This evening, 19 years ago I married my husband in a magical Renaissance themed wedding. As I sat across the table from him at dinner, I was struck with how far we have come and overcome. It is easy to see God's hand in things after the fact but I can honestly say that I was seeing God's hand in our conversation tonight as it was happening. Learning to communicate is by far the most difficult thing for a  majority of people. It certainly has been challenging for me because I have a natural tendency within my temperament to not express my needs. Not being able to express yourself comes back to bite you in the butt with anger, resentment, bitterness and the love fading from your relationship. Thanks to knowing about how God created me, needs, weakness, strengths and all has been the catalyst to the most growth I have ever had including those super growing physically years when you are a baby. My weaknesses are being overcome with my understanding of God and his word, with relying on Him more and more. My needs are being met because I no longer have the fear of rejection and can assert what it is I am needing. My limitations are fully recognized and accepted for what they are and how they are the very reason I need God. I love my husband no matter his imperfections and he loves me no matter mine and God is working on each of us to grow towards the perfection that can only be found in Jesus Christ.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 330

The scripture the sermon was on was Matthew 21: 28-30. It is a short parable Jesus tells about a father and two sons. The father asks the first son to go work in the vineyard today and the boys first response is defiant but later he ends up going and working in the vineyard. The second son is asked the same thing and his initial response is obedient willingness but he ends up not going to the vineyard. What did I learn from the sermon and this parable? My initial thoughts on these verses were that it was about obedience but the preacher of the day, Dr Earl Palmer was given some insight from God that he shared. He didn’t focus on the obedience but rather on what motivates obedience. Our relationship with God should be one of love, respect and total trust but as Dr Palmer pointed out Jesus is very well aware of our humanness. Both of the sons had flaws that motivated their thoughts and actions. We aren’t capable of responding as I considered as the “third” son who says he will go to the vineyard and does. I can’t do it alone. Dr Palmer brought up the idea of “lag” time. This is the time in between God’s call and our response. Instead of jumping the gun and saying I will or I can’t or I won’t, I need to give my heart and soul time in prayer and meditation. Let the Holy Spirit work on my heart and give me what I need to say “I will” and mean it. How can I make prayer a consistent part of my life? I am thinking my two big goals for the coming year will be prepare and prayer so I will be praying and taking notes on how to prepare for my growth in preparing and praying.

Isaiah 30:15 This is what the Sovereign Lord , the Holy One of Israel says: In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 306

 

The movie After Earth with Will Smith is filled with parallels of biblical concepts. There was one of a beautiful example of how the Holy Spirit is always with us. When we are really connected to God then the power of the Holy Spirit grows within us. The movie is about a father and son who find themselves back on planet Earth which is currently hostile to human survival. The father sends the son out on a mission to save them both otherwise they will die. But the son has a communication devise on his arm and a video devise on his back that keep him in contact with his father and the father is able to see everything that could try to harm his son. The son finds himself in dangerous frightening scenarios and the father calmly talks him through them, helping him calm his fears and focus.

Over the course of the mission, the son is growing in his confidence and finds himself rebelling against the father. The son ends up doing something very dangerous and ends up without his communication devise so he can’t talk to his father and hear his father. But his father can still see all that is happening and is still talking to him like he can hear him. There was a beautiful moment when the father was talking to the son to calm his fears and the son not being able to hear the father was grounded in what the father had taught him. So when the father says , “take a knee” , the son was taking a knee. In the end it was like the power of the Holy Spirit came to fruition within the son and gave him the power to conquer his fear. The father was with him every step of the way.  Our journey of faith is like this mission: we accept Jesus into our hearts, work on building a growth foundation and connecting relationship with God and the Holy Spirit will work within us and the fruit of that relationship will be demonstrated in our character. Fostering that relationship is the key to the fruit of the Spirit growing within us.

2Corinthians 3:17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 294

I have decided to do my first 5K towards the end of October. I like to have a goal to push towards rather than just trying to exercise for the sake of exercising. We have to think of our time reading God’s word with the end goal in mind. That ultimate goal is a growing intimate relationship with God. I think a lot of people get caught in the trap of the bible is boring. Even I have fallen into that trap lately. I have to stop and re-start with a heart open to hearing God and dig more. Don’t let that boringness attitude block your heart. Pray for a right open attitude of heart and for guidance in discovering more about God than you knew before.

Philippians 3:14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 204

A friend of mine from bible study lives in Black Forest. Thankfully, her home was not among the 483 that were lost. She got word yesterday that they could return to their home. She said a 100 cars were lined up to get into her subdivision. There were 3 fire trucks with lights and sirens going there and about 30 firefighters cheering them on as they drove into their neighborhood. She said was very emotional. Firefighters are amazing and what a gift from God to give them a chance to celebrate with the people they were fighting for. Our souls are being fought for everyday. God wants to have and watch us grow in relationship with him and Satan wants to do everything to keep that from happening. Oh how the angels of heaven must be cheering for us when we win the battle. We know the war is already won thanks to Jesus but everyday is a battle to distract us and lead us away from our awesome God. I pray that today you and I can win the battle and give cause for the angels to celebrate and cheer.

Luke 10: 19: “Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.”

http://sfc-hemet.org/the_ten_scriptures_satan_hate_most0.aspx

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 167

My daughter had an assignment to look up the meaning of symbiosis. It is a close ecological relationship between two species. There are several categories of these relationships but the one that shouts to me about God is called mutualism. In our relationship with God, both of us benefit. We have the Holy Spirit within us progressively molding us to be more and more like Jesus and God has his child back in relationship with him, loving him. It is a give and take relationship that when we both are giving and taking our share our relationship will deepen and we will grow.

Psalm 63:8 My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.

Happy Mother's Day!

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 153

One very important point in my recent studies is that because we are triune beings with a spirit, soul and body each of these parts needs to be fed. Without food our body would wither away and die. It is the same for our spirit and our soul. Our soul is the place where our temperament lies and is where our intellect is. We feed our intellect with books, conversation, television, etc. Without daily feeding to our soul, we will become out of balance. The same is true for our spirit. It needs to be fed regularly to ensure growth and maturity. We need to be in the Word and prayer fostering our relationship with God the Father and Jesus, our King. All three parts are interconnected and if one part suffers the other parts will also. God created us to be in balance but sin knocked us off balance. We are cleansed from our sin thanks to the gift of Jesus. He has cleared the way for us to be in relationship with God in ways we could not before we accepted him. If you are not using the gift that Jesus gave in clearing the way so you could have a relationship with the One True God, than your faith is stuck. We need to turn away from the temptations in this world that draw us away from God and our relationship with him. There can be no more excuses because our lives are too busy. Like Jesus did often when he was with us on Earth, he went off to be alone with God. He was intentional about it. He didn’t worry about the time or what needed to be done. He took the time and walked off alone to be with God. I find that my own relationship with God is not that intentional. Aside from my blog writing time, I am an opportunistic praying Christian which means when I find myself in a position to pray like alone in my car. Perhaps with the warmth of summer heading our way, I will get myself intentionally out of the house walking with God; feeding my body and spirit at the same time.

1Timothy 6:12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 150

I think there is a misconception that when you choose Jesus and become a Christian you are saved and that is it; nothing else needed. Yes, we are saved and that doesn’t change but God calls us to grow in our relationship with him through Jesus. I have grown more in these last two years of being in the Bible everyday than in all my years before that combined. We have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit within us but must enable the power of Holy Spirit by fostering our relationship and knowledge of Jesus. This is when you will start to see the power of the Holy Spirit changing you from the inside out. All those bad habits and negative things that we learned can be weeded out of our soul. We can also pluck the sins we will commit everyday from our hearts with God’s grace and draw on the Holy Spirit to sin no more. It is all a process that will keep going until you go home to be face to face with our Lord. Be in the Word, pray, meditate and take action for God everyday and this growth will bring wonderful blessings.

2Peter 1:3-8 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness; knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance godliness, and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 96

The story of Joseph is one of my favorites for many reasons but especially to show that God’s purpose is working through everything, the good, the bad and the ugly. Joseph was thrown in a pit, sold by his brothers as a slave, shipped off to a foreign country and accused of attempted rape and thrown in jail. But he was in a place where he could use the gift God gave him with his dreams that would end up helping the Pharaoh and the whole nation of Egypt and put him in a place to help and forgive his brothers. Joseph had learned throughout his tribulations that no matter what his brothers intended that God intended it for good. This belief is what helped Joseph in forgiving his brothers. The evil in the world is certainly not good but God will use it for his good purpose of bringing more souls to salvation and back in relationship with him. If we have this belief in our hearts of the goodness of God and his purpose than we too will be able to forgive which is the way to gaining freedom and peace. God is good.

Genesis 50:19-20  But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 76

At the end of the book of Job, God speaks to Job and basically God says I am God and I command everything over the universe. He ends up blessing Job in the later years of his life with more children, etc and tells Job that his friends need to sacrifice a burnt offering for their foolish words. In the end, we can be angry with God, we can ask the why’s and we have to remember that God is God and we may not get the answers to our why’s. The main purpose is to keep in relationship with God. Don’t let bitterness or well-meaning friends and their words turn you away from the God who is infinite, who can do all things. Always look to Him and pray.

Job 42:10 After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had before.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 72

I find it interesting in Job that all his friends are giving him advice but it is misguided advice. The latest friend, Eliphaz tells him to submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way prosperity will come to you. Unfortunately, although he got the first part right in turning to God, asking forgiveness and being obedient to him, the second half is not always the case, a prime example being Jesus who was the ultimate in righteous and yet was led to and nailed on a cross. His friend thought Job had sin that he was being punished for. There are definitely consequences to sin but they are not there to punish but rather to direct you back to the Almighty. I was thinking the other day of the analogy of the clay and the potter. We are the clay and God is the potter. He is sitting at his potting wheel pouring water over us which keeps us from drying out and is shaping us into something. When God is not at the potter’s wheel because we have turned away from him, the evil one is going to suck the life out of us leaving us a dark formless lump of clay, nothing.  We must ask God to come back and sit at the potter’s wheel, than the Holy Spirit will be poured into us giving us life and light and God will work again at shaping us to work into his plan. Will we be like a vase that stands there and shows the beauty of the picked flowers? Will we be like a pot that is mixing something up that will be for all? Or will we be like a pitcher made to pour out water? We will discover his plan for us as we journey through our faith. Job’s friend had his assumptions wrong. It is not about sin and being repentant and obedient to God so that we will have prosperity. It is about being in relationship with him. Job is angry at God but he is still talking to him. We too must keep talking to God through our struggles, troubles and tribulations and ask him to pour the water over us.

Job 23:16-17 God has made my heart faint; the Almighty has terrified me. Yet I am not silenced by the darkness, by the thick darkness that covers my face.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 70

My son has gone away on a weekend church camp. They gave us what they are to be studying this weekend in the bible, the book of Job. I decided to read it myself to refresh myself of the story but also to look more deeply at it. Job is a righteous man who has been blessed by God in many ways but Satan claims that he wouldn’t be the faithful man he is if all those blessings were taken away. Thus far in my reading he has lost servants and all his children to death and now he is stricken bodily with sores from head to toe. After a week of this he finally pours out his anguish to God. Not cursing God but only asking that question we have all asked, “why?” At this point his peace is gone, he is in turmoil and can find no rest but he does what is right in calling out to God. Despite all the suffering, he has not turned his back on God but embraced him with his anguish. I especially like what Job says in response to his wife who is urging him to curse God. He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” Job 2:10  Trouble will always come and we have to be ready for it by standing firm in our faith and loving God no matter what. Job shows us that we are to take our anguish to God, cry out to God, be angry at God because in doing this, we are still facing him in relationship. Like any relationship, it has it’s bumps in the road but we want to keep on that road and not be steered into a detour because of the trouble that has come upon us.

Job 3:26 “I have no peace, no quietness; I have no rest, but only turmoil.”

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 59

Faith is a crucial part of being fed the fruits of the Spirit. Without faith, we are trying to go it alone. I have considered my faith to be strong but it can be stronger, it can encompass every part of my life. If I have faith that God will provide for me all my needs in body, soul and spirit than I can be truly walking in the Spirit. The only way to do that is to be in the Word everyday, praying everyday because without daily relationship with the Lord we will forget and try going it alone again and again. God is God and I am not. I have to be dependent upon God for everything. He is my provider, protector, counselor, friend and Father. I pray we can all start looking to God for our every need and have complete faith in Him.

Psalm 90:1-2 Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challege-Day 54

As I was reviewing my email last evening down in my studio, I heard upstairs my daughter laughing. It was a rip-roaring kind of laughing, the kind where you get physical. I could imagine her up there rolling around on the floor. She was watching one of her Disney shows on TV and was laughing with such abandon. I had to pause what I was doing just to sit and listen. I think there is an old saying that laughter is contagious. I don’t know about that but it definitely spreads an effect over those within the hearing range. I think the same can be said with a smile or kind words. They can make a sad or angry person feel, at least for the moment, happier. I am sure the joy the Holy Spirit fills us with can lead to outward effects. Though laughter and happiness are not what the Word is showing us about joy, it is an example of what joy can do. True joy comes from the Holy Spirit, not by him cracking jokes or giving us every heart’s desire but just the knowing that we are His. The joy comes in the relationship we have with our Father. He wants us to ask, vent, worship, be grateful and love him in prayer. We may not get what we ask for, we may vent and be lead to solutions, we may worship and love and already we know we are loved by Him beyond measure and we may be grateful in all things which brings about an attitude of contentment but the joy from the Holy Spirit is just because we are doing those things: asking, venting, worshipping, loving, thanking and praying this all to Him. Like a parent that tells a child, I just want you to come talk to me, such is how or heavenly Father feels about us. Talk to Him in whatever way is right for you and do it often and joy will find its way into your heart.

John 16:24 Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruit Challenge

Today begins a new year's goal of working with the Holy Spirit and being filled with His fruits each day. I am going to focus on one particular fruit for 6-week segments. They always say in trying to change yourself or break a habit or create a new one you need at least 14 days. Well, I always need a lot more than that if I want to make it a new thing that really sticks with me. I am just going in the order based on the scripture from Galations so we will be starting with “LOVE”. There are so many things to talk about when it comes to this subject but I am going to start us off with the topic of what blocks us from truly loving God and others. That would be SIN. I think one of the most challenging things is recognizing our sins for what they are. I found this list of 667 sins in the bible on-line at http://www.scribd.com/doc/14087682/667-Sins-in-the-Holy-Bible  I would suggest you read through these as a way to start that recognition process. It certainly opened my eyes. Remember Sin separates us from God. Though we have been saved by the grace of Jesus Christ, we must work at our relationship with God by asking for His forgiveness everyday and asking Him to help us forgive others. To love we must forgive first.

Let us pray this prayer everyday:  Father of all, because of your love, I am saved. I am sorry for my sins of this past day especially the sin of (name the sin). Please wash over your grace upon me and take away my sins. Make me clean and fresh for the new day before me. Help me to forgive as you have forgiven me. Guide me in taking away this blockage of sin that keeps me from loving you and others as you want me to. For with you all things are possible. Amen and Amen.

(**note** I will post all prayers on the new prayer tab for daily reference)

Jeremiah 5:25 says, "Your sins and iniquities prevent good things from happening to you."

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 291

Oh the joys a simple phone call can bring! Yesterday morning my i-phone was vibrating away so I looked to see the number calling in. My eyebrows went up as I saw it was a local number. I have to let it go to voice mail while I am at work and call people back on my breaks so I was happy to see the person had left a message. My eyebrows went up again! Could it be the church calling about the admin assist postion? The voice mail told it all. I made it to the final 2 candidates. This down to two candidates thing is so reminding me of the time I tried out to be the captian of the drill team. There were only two of us trying out so it was me or her, 50-50 chance. Like  I do with anything that I am in to, I committed and dedicated myself to preparing for this try-out 110% but I was crushed with disappointment upon finding out that I didn't make it by a mere 2 points. I balled on the phone to my mom about it and she said words that have stayed with me. Be the leader behind the leader. Support and do the best you can as the second in command. I did do that. I had a great relationship with the team. They listened to me, respected me and followed me and in the end I became the captian. Why? Because the other girl ended up stealing product from a fundraiser we did early on in the year. I ended up being captain by God's design. He had given me the opportunity to make my skills in leadership and relationship grow and shine. I am honored to be part of the final two people for this position at my church and no matter the outcome I know that God works things out for his purpose and in his timing. Praise the Lord oh my soul, worship his holy name. Sing like never before, oh-oh-oh, worship your holy name. Can't think of the name and artist to the words in this song but that came to my head and heart. Praising the Lord...all the day long...
1 Chronicles 16: 9 Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 255

This Sunday our youth director did the sermon. It was an amazing sermon about how we need to remember how very Big our God is and we can do this and demonstrate this through our prayers. Joshua's relationship with God was such that he prayed for God to stop the Sun it's path. That is a Big prayer for a Big God. Nothing is impossible with God and Joshua truly believed that in praying for this. God answered and the Sun stopped that day for several hours. It spoke volumes to those that were worshiping Sun and Moon gods at the time. Only the one true God of the universe can do the impossible and stop the sun in it's track. Towards the end of the sermon, the youth director spoke about the incident that happened to the high school mission trip to Arkansas this summer that my son was a part of. I spoke about this before on my blog of how they came to find a car off the road in a ditch and as the adults on the mission trip lifted the car and held the head of the driver and spoke to him in Spanish about Jesus, the rest of the youth watched up on the road and prayed. They got the man out who was severly injured and he was put into a helicopter headed towards the hospital but unfortunately died in route to the hospital. God always answers our prayers but they may not always be answered specifically in what we prayed for. The point was made that it's not about the answer to the prayer. It's about the in-between point from the asking to the answer. Our God is a Big God and we can pray for anything and everything but it's not about the answer to those prayers but about our relationship with God. Examine your own prayer life as I will be doing mine and see if there are bigger things that you can be praying about to our Big God. Read this article about this miracle that Joshua prayed for here: http://christiananswers.net/q-eden/edn-c016.html 

Joshua 10: 13-14 “So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the nation avenged itself on its enemies, as it is written in the Book of Jashar. The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. There has never been a day like it before or since…

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 116

Growing up in the Catholic church, I was not exposed to the differences that other denominations have. My experience yesterday at the leadership meeting at a non-denominational church was so wonderful. The thing that really stood out to me the most was when someone was leading us in prayer, the rest of them were saying little things along with the prayer. Amens, hallelujah's and all kinds of other things. It actually felt like we were all participating in this prayer because of the action of speaking out. I am again profoundly aware of the power available to us by being in the body of Christ. I had a friend who always told me her church was being outdoors in the mountains with God. I always thought that was nice but not enough. God created us to be in relationship with others and to work together in his plan for the world. Whether it's in a more conservative church atmosphere or in a more action-oriented church atmosphere, we are all one body. Have you tried a different church lately or ever? It can be an enlightening experience that will stir your soul. Give it a try.
Genesis 28:15 "Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go."

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 27

God's word is amazing! I have SO many times read a passage again and again and every time it is read I see something different. I think a lot of it has to do with the season of life you are in. This is a very good reason to never stop reading the Word of the Lord because He will speak to you wherever you are in your life. I am praising God for His word and how it is eternal. You can go on and on reading it and always come away with something new. In church on Sunday our prastor spoke about Matthew 2:13-23 which in a nutshell is about the escape of Mary, Joseph and Jesus to Egypt and about him coming out of Egypt and ending up in Nazzareth. I have heard this part of the story many times but our pastor brought out a very interesting thought as to why Matthew included it in the story. Jesus is living out the old testament. He is exhiled to Egypt because a certain king wants to see him dead and when that king is dead Jesus comes out of Egypt like Moses leading the Isrealites out of Egypt. We are doing the same thing! We are in exhile because of our sins. We cannot be near the Lord but Jesus like Moses leads us out of exhile into eternal life. My exhile was the sins of my past abortions and my secondary infertility issues I had brought a light onto those sins and made me face them for what they really are. I was led out of the darkness I faced every month when my period would show up again into the light and a relationship with God. I am not happy about where I was but I am very grateful and delighted with where I ended up. What drove you into exhile and how were you led out of it to Jesus?
Matthew 2:19 After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, "get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Isreal, for those who were trying to take the child's life are dead."