tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59539988961901897692024-02-19T08:54:08.749-08:00Simple Truth Life is complicated. Live #simpletruth.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12891518637194718764noreply@blogger.comBlogger130125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953998896190189769.post-86803444958831972512018-04-23T12:59:00.000-07:002018-04-23T13:09:33.349-07:00Something Beautiful <div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">The story behind this pic goes a lot deeper than your scroll could ever take you. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">When we parked directly across from this sign, I immediately told my teen daughter we HAD to take her picture there! </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">She was hesitant. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">I was like WHAT?! Get over there! You embody that sign! That is ALL YOU! We are taking your picture! </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">And we did. And they are beautiful. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">But here is the irony...</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">She wanted to take some of me, too. And I complied. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">But all of them-I honestly cringed at. </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">I picked apart every flaw of myself. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">My size, my wrinkles, my hair, my outfit, my belly, my teeth...all of it. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">I laughed at thinking I was even worthy to stand in front of a sign bearing that word: beautiful. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">When we came back to the car, we took a few more with friends- because let’s be honest- it is a really hip backdrop.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">And as we walked away, Logan, not knowing we had already taken some of me, asked if I wanted her to take some, and I obliged. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">So I did my best to smile pretty, suck it in and- well- you know the drill. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">While we were taking them she stopped and said, “Ok. Fix your smile.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">And I knew exactly what she meant. I was looking frozen. 😜</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><b>I was losing myself in the picture of beautiful I was trying to create. </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">So I made some funny faces to loosen up and then looked back at her laughing at my own crazy. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">And this is the picture she caught. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">It’s my real laugh- the one that makes my eyes get lost in my wrinkles and my big ole mouth overtake my face. And I didn’t care about the sucking in or what my hair was doing...because...well...laughter does that. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">I didn’t even look at the picture right then because I knew I would be dissatisfied- ready to unleash the list of “if only’s” I have long memorized and spoken to myself: </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">If only I was smaller, if only I was younger, if only my nose wasn’t crooked, if only, if only, if only- THEN maybe I would share this picture. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">If only I felt worthy of being called something beautiful. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Y’all. I am 41. And I still struggle with this. <b><u>I struggle with seeing the beauty because I am too busy studying the ashes. </u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Caught up in what I do or don’t see instead of what my Father says. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Maybe you completely have no clue what I’m talking about- maybe it’s just me. But I have a feeling I’m not the only one. I think in some way or another we all struggle to see ourselves as “something beautiful”. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">I think back to the moment my girl hesitated to take her picture with these words, and how my heart broke thinking she felt even for a second unworthy of that. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">And I know my Father must feel the same when I speak lying labels over myself, when I choose to listen to every other thing about who I am except what my Father says about me. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">If only I fully believed that Jesus died to free me of those lies, to bring beauty for my ashes, joy for my mourning...</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide 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 </span><span style="direction: ltr; font-size: 12pt; unicode-bidi: bidi-override;">61:1-3</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">What can’t be lost in looking at this verse is the why found in verse three: it is all for the display of HIS splendor- for His glory to be made known. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">THAT is the reason I live and breathe. Whether that amounts to the world’s current definition of outward beauty, or even my own- the TRUTH remains that Jesus’ death and resurrection has redeemed me from every lie and brought the beauty God intended into my life. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">What HE calls beautiful. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">And I am simply called to make that known. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">To take this something beautiful and become someone surrender to something wonderful: </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">His perfect love. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">I don’t know if I’ll ever get to a place where I get this right- even a slight majority of the time. </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">But it doesn’t mean it’s ok for me to stop trying. </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">I’ll wake up each day asking for His mind, His eyes, His heart...and His strength to live it all out in a world that looks so different. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Go live loved. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Because you are. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">You are something beautiful. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Let’s remind each other of that #SimpleTruth more often.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12891518637194718764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953998896190189769.post-64060803802643326772017-03-14T08:19:00.001-07:002017-03-14T08:26:25.480-07:005 Steps for Navigating Rejection from a Lifelong People Pleasing
Perfectionist<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZkgE_y3bNIVeybtGHlvzzIL4Jb3xbl5xAbNHTd92bpT6mxYOdIrp7XdbVV9Jsx-FsVeP_XcXbgyFg2SFU2tjHYIWW9okhDXymIJibIPYsbe4DdhFDQA4TKgtfPTSv16S7dOQWa3HqZA52/s640/blogger-image--624013461.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZkgE_y3bNIVeybtGHlvzzIL4Jb3xbl5xAbNHTd92bpT6mxYOdIrp7XdbVV9Jsx-FsVeP_XcXbgyFg2SFU2tjHYIWW9okhDXymIJibIPYsbe4DdhFDQA4TKgtfPTSv16S7dOQWa3HqZA52/s640/blogger-image--624013461.jpg"></a></div></div>
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<p></p>
<p>Fear of rejection. </p>
<p>It is real. </p>
<p>I have only edited these words 5 bazillion times because of it. </p>
<p>What MIGHT people say? How many likes or site hits will there be? </p>
<p>In every area of life, the enemy tries to convince us to use fear as our fuel over faith. </p>
<p>We are frozen in the shadow of what someone might think.</p>
<p>We are paralyzed by the fear of rejection. </p>
<p>Why? </p>
<p>Because the pain of rejection is very real. </p>
<p>And if you've ever experienced the PAIN of rejection, then it is something you choose to avoid. </p>
<p>That is why the FEAR of it is so powerful and persuasive. </p>
<p>I get stuck spinning my wheels in the mud and muck of those times the worst fears of this people pleasing perfectionist were realized and rejection happened. </p>
<p>So how do we move forward? </p>
<p>How do we move forward CERTAIN we can avoid the pain of rejection? </p>
<p>The answer: we can't. </p>
<p>Rejection is a part of life. </p>
<p>It cannot be completely avoided. </p>
<p>We must to learn (notice I said WE- because I am STILL learning!) how to navigate rejection instead of being paralyzed by the thought of it or drowned in its wake. </p>
<p>We must choose, God helping us, to change our perspective. </p>
<p>See, what we call rejection, God calls protection and redirection. </p>
<p>It isn't the END of the road, it's a BEND in the road. </p>
<p>We have to acknowledge that we will experience rejection, and know that, through faith in Jesus, we not only can survive, but ultimately thrive WHEN (not IF) rejection comes our way. </p>
<p>How do we do that? </p>
<p>These are 5 steps I have been walking through to navigate the storm that is rejection. Maybe they can be a lifeline for you as well. </p>
<p><b>1. Acknowledge the hurt. Write it down. Put words to the pain. And then? Forgive. </b></p>
<p>It won't happen overnight. But it has to be a choice before it is a realized feeling. So choose to turn toward forgiveness and God will weave it into the fabric of your heart one thread at a time. </p>
<p>“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.””</p>
<p>John <a dir="ltr" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors-result="0" x-apple-data-detectors="true">16:33</a> NLT</p>
<p>“Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.”</p>
<p>Colossians <a dir="ltr" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors-result="1" x-apple-data-detectors="true">3:13</a> NLT</p>
<p>“Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many.”</p>
<p>Hebrews <a dir="ltr" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors-result="2" x-apple-data-detectors="true">12:15</a> NLT</p>
<p><b>2. Acknowledge what different choices you can make next time, the ways you can personally grow. </b></p>
<p>“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”</p>
<p>Psalms 139:23-24 NLT</p>
<p><b>3. Acknowledge SPECIFICALLY the lies that the enemy is screaming at you about who you are through this rejection. Write them down, even though it may be painful. He only wants to derail and disarm you. Don't let him. </b></p>
<p>Jesus says about the devil, your enemy, “...He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.”</p>
<p>John <a dir="ltr" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors-result="3" x-apple-data-detectors="true">8:44</a> NLT</p>
<p><b>4. REPLACE each of those specific lies with God's truth- who HE says you are. Dig in His Word and find out what HE says about you. Write them down, even though you might not quite believe them yet. Repeat them daily. Put them on notecards and put them in the places and spaces you will be, find them in songs, say them aloud. Don't leave space for the lies to take root. </b></p>
<p>“Open my eyes to see the wonderful truths in your instructions.”</p>
<p>Psalms 119:18 </p>
<p>“How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!”</p>
<p>Psalms 139:17-18 NLT</p>
<p><b>5. Do the next thing. Take the next step. Refuse to pitch your tent in the campground of rejection. Put a pin in the map o your life and acknowledge it as a part of your journey, but don't let it become your default destination. Pack it up and move forward- even if it's at a snail's pace. </b></p>
<p><b> Fill your time with constructive, positive, life giving things. Find companionship first with Jesus. Volunteer your time. </b></p>
<p><b>Worship Him. Dream. Hope. Laugh. Give. Do. </b></p>
<p><b>And whatever it is you're afraid to do, if God is asking you to do it, do it afraid. </b></p>
<p>“Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.”</p>
<p>Isaiah 41:10 NLT</p>
<p>“Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”</p>
<p>Lamentations <a dir="ltr" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors-result="4" x-apple-data-detectors="true">3:22-23</a> NIV</p>
<p>I know if you're a lifelong people pleasing perfectionist and you're thinking this list of 5 things seems messy and foggy and wildly unpredictable and uncontrollable....well...you're right. </p>
<p>It's surrender. But not the kind that means defeat. It's surrender that is your victory. </p>
<p>These 5 steps don't mean you can move on overnight or that no pain will be present through the process. It simply means you have a plan, a process for healing that you are choosing to step into. </p>
<p>It's your plan for moving on from being paralyzed by the fear and pain of rejection, and instead be propelled into your purpose filled, Holy Spirit empowered life. </p>
<p>What we call rejection, God calls protection and redirection. </p>
<p>God has protected you from what was on that path by redirecting you to another. </p>
<p>Trust Him. </p>
<p>THAT is when the fear of rejection no longer controls us and FAITH takes the reigns.</p>
<p>Don't let fear of rejection paralyze you.</p>
<p>Let it propel you toward a deeper faith in Jesus, knowing that He has a perfect plan for your life. He has prepared you for every step and He will never leave you. </p>
<p>This is #SimpleTruth that can help you navigate rejection all the way through to Christ centered, Truth empowered healing and freedom. </p>
<p>“Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained.”</p>
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<div>Philippians <a dir="ltr" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors-result="5" x-apple-data-detectors="true">3:12-16</a> ESV</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12891518637194718764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953998896190189769.post-26917823266175450042017-01-08T14:39:00.002-08:002017-01-08T14:39:35.688-08:00The Hard of Hurt and the Hope of Our Healer<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">When hurt is in the deep, deep places, so unseen, it is hard to know how to walk forward. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">I only know to write and to worship what is raging and stirring in my spirit. I just don't know any other way. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">So here I am, fingers to keyboard, not knowing what He has me to say and what He needs me to hear. </span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">When hurt and grief grab us unexpectedly, chaos happens inside. </span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;">We look a mess trying to fumble through our days, stumble through the mess of broken ground around our hearts. Our minds are stuck in the waves of our ache and our tears and by all intents and purposes- these aches and pains are not even truly our own. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">We ache because our friends ache. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">We hurt because they hurt. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">We grieve because they grieve. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">And we grasp for words to say, to heal. But we find that all the words are thin and the healing seems so far away. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">I sit and weep over pain that only the Holy Spirit could open my heart to feel for another. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">And I am not alone. That is the compassion of our God, isn't it? That He would drop into our spirit even a small twinge of what our friend is trudging through because He will not allow her to walk that path isolated and alone. He. Will. Not.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">My heart is so torn and broken. But I know that those who loved intimately this life lost, their heart must feel broken and scattered so hopelessly. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">And so I get on my knees and cry out that God gather those pieces to Himself and for His glory. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">He alone is good. Even when it hurts so deeply, when the pain is so relentless…His love is deeper still…His love is a fiery passion that will NEVER stop pursuing us even in the dark and hard places. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">The victory is His. Not will be…but already is. We live FROM that Hope, not FOR it. Death IS conquered. And because HE lives, WE can live. My friend’s daughter now lives eternally.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">My heart aches in so many ways today. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">Questions flood my soul…</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">Do those around me know this love?</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">Are my children rooted in the truth of this One and Only Lover of their soul?</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">Is my walk with Him intentional or haphazard?</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">Would I be able to cling like this to Jesus when the pain of the world has wounded me so?</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">Is my faith strong enough to bear the weight of whatever life brings?</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">Is Christ truly enough for me?</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">Am I content to live as His yet never share the desperate need for the Savior with those far from relationship with Him? </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">Do I walk in boldness or do I bow to fear?</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">Am I living comfortable in my salvation or captivated by my Jesus? </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">Jana, my friend who has suffered such great loss, said to me once, </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">“Comfort is a terrible life goal.”</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">I wrote those words down. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">I don’t know if these are her words or ones she simply passed along to me. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">Either way, they struck deeply that day.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">I had been living for comfort. And it is such an easy trap to fall into. Before we know it we are back on the couch of our lives, settled into complacency and our voice of truth not carrying past the door of our heart. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">I cannot be content with comfort in some thin version of Christianity when so many do not know, when so many do not have relationship with my Jesus. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">There is no way to stand when life’s blow is so sweeping, swift, and powerful…unless….unless </span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;">your ROCK,</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">your FOUNDATION, </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">your HOPE, </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">your POWER, </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">your VICTORY, </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">your CONFIDENCE </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">is Jesus. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">We will still weep today and in days to come. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">Our hearts will still ache for our friend. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">We will still call on our God to be near in the watches of the night. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">And our God will dry our tears.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">Our God will embrace us in the ache. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">Our God will answer and empower us to stand strong in days to come and rest in peace in the darkest of nights. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">We will not be shaken. No. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">We will be STIRRED to action in His name and for His glory. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">We will not be paralyzed with the SHOCK of it all. NO.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">We will let this SHOCKWAVE be the SURGE of power that catapults us into greatness for the Kingdom of God.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">We will not be SILENCED in the suffering. No. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">We will SHOUT the praise of our GOOD GOD. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">We WILL- in the hurt, in the sorrow, in the pain, in the confusion, in the unanswered questions, in the anger, in.it.all- we WILL shout the praise of our good, good God. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">That is what our gone-home-so-young-friend is doing right now. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">And I am sure sweet Ally would want it no other way. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">And this? Do not doubt that this is some of the hardest #SimpleTruth to write and hear. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">My prayers are not ceasing. Please join me. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">~Julie </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12891518637194718764noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953998896190189769.post-53903292093862356942016-09-15T21:32:00.001-07:002016-09-15T21:35:11.241-07:00A Line in the Sand<div>A line in the sand. </div>
<div>The urban dictionary says it’s,<span style="color: rgb(44, 53, 60); font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">"Something that you refuse to do, or something on which you will not compromise. A point that you will not pass in any situation."</span></div>
<div>You might call it a defining moment. </div><div>That moment you firmly choose which way you’re headed at a particular crossroads of life. </div>
<div>It’s the place where ideas are birthed, visions are cast, declarations are penned, challenges are accepted. Mediocre is not welcome, mundane has to flee, and uncertainty is exiled. </div>
<div>That is what happens when you draw the line in the sand. </div>
<div>You decide that you will go no further in that same old way. No more compromise. It stops here. </div>
<div>And the new mindset begins. </div>
<div><br></div>
<div>But sometimes you need someone to remind you that you are worth that line in the sand. </div>
<div><br></div>
<div>And I think that is where I was when I received this message from my friend.</div>
<div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">A picture of my name and 2017 in the sands of a Hawaiian beach that brought me to tears.</span></div>
<div><br></div>
<div>What was just a simple gesture, a rake of the finger across granules of earth, a mere moment in time for her…that became a defining moment for me. </div>
<div>What I had desired in my heart, was drawn in the sand for me.</div>
<div>She stooped down to drawn lines in the sand that spelled out a future not dictated by my past, but a future declared by the passion and positioning of my present. </div>
<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNxBb8OIvot4QbH4r0q4iklqHw_fb4ZM3E4MrBLrDjA3BmRokGuffQMMe_Em_d0q_6iEAB_rLojJZTKH72vi6tWu_l2n62H4wY4yoV2W8E7D2yT_5cZR3A_X3IXhKVgilA8tyVg-EK5KDU/s640/blogger-image--1498195422.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNxBb8OIvot4QbH4r0q4iklqHw_fb4ZM3E4MrBLrDjA3BmRokGuffQMMe_Em_d0q_6iEAB_rLojJZTKH72vi6tWu_l2n62H4wY4yoV2W8E7D2yT_5cZR3A_X3IXhKVgilA8tyVg-EK5KDU/s640/blogger-image--1498195422.jpg"></a></div><br></div>
<div>And in that moment I was reminded of Another who once did the same for a woman caught in sin and faced with a past so insurmountable that she could not imagine her future. I can only imagine that she stood before her accusers and could not find the hope to grasp in that moment. </div>
<div><br></div>
<div>But Jesus.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>“But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, ‘If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.’ Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ ‘No one, sir,’ she said. ‘Then neither do I condemn you,’ Jesus declared. ‘Go now and sin no more.’” (John 8:6-11)</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Jesus drew lines in the sand that changed her future from condemnation to grace. </div>
<div>And the line that Grace draws? It changes things.</div>
<div>He drew a line in the sand of her present that declared her future untainted by her past. </div>
<div>A defining moment. </div>
<div>A woman on the doorstep of condemnation, now a woman on threshold of transformation. </div>
<div>She simply had to remember that line in the sand.</div>
<div>That place where Jesus stooped down, raking his finger across granules of earth, and spelled out a future not dictated by her past, but a future declared by the forgiveness of her present. </div>
<div>A defining moment that defined her life.</div>
<div>A defining moment that didn’t tell her she had to stay in the familiar- it unleashed her into the freedom of her present and the promise of her future. </div>
<div><br></div>
<div>That’s what a line in the sand will do: unleash you from the ordinary into the extraordinary, from the mundane into the insane, from the past into the power, from the mediocre into the marvelous, from the safe into the spectacular. </div>
<div>And sometimes God uses another to draw that line in the sand of your heart. </div>
<div>To remind you, you are worth that finger scraping the earth.</div>
<div>You are forgiven.</div>
<div>You are called to GO. </div>
<div><b>You are worth that defining moment where a thing is birthed, a vision is cast, a declaration is penned, a challenge is accepted. </b></div>
<div>All you have to do is believe. </div>
<div>Believe that you ARE who Jesus says you are and you <i>will</i> DO what He has purposed and prepared for you in advance to do! </div>
<div><br></div>
<div>A line in the sand.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Let the new mindset begin. </div>
<div><br></div>
<div><b>“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works , so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:8-10</b></div>
<div><b><br></b></div>
<div><b>“…being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6</b></div>
<div><br></div><div>#SimpleTruth </div>
<div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12891518637194718764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953998896190189769.post-35522720036989574282016-09-13T05:36:00.001-07:002016-09-13T05:36:21.349-07:00My Itty Bitty Life<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivdkBcKCAqZyxc42rknWDahz0s9gicuAyXBHOhc6XSgYSMB1NIIc4Fq1HDfqbpBA9ioG0bEBpnHP7pZqsGtb-LYUJHDv5p4M2rmutmKM_rF3e6Z5cPrz2rg9arM-ydXO_7idwhwtLIPUcp/s640/blogger-image-1675273670.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivdkBcKCAqZyxc42rknWDahz0s9gicuAyXBHOhc6XSgYSMB1NIIc4Fq1HDfqbpBA9ioG0bEBpnHP7pZqsGtb-LYUJHDv5p4M2rmutmKM_rF3e6Z5cPrz2rg9arM-ydXO_7idwhwtLIPUcp/s640/blogger-image-1675273670.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div>Ambassador. </div><div>It's a huge assignment. </div><div>And sometimes I feel so small for the task. </div><div>But Jesus didn't think so: He died and rose again for me to have it. </div><div>He absolutely believes that I am enough for every single task, every single encounter, every single valley I enter and every single mountain I am called to scale to make His name known. </div><div>Why? </div><div>Not because of any good or any power that I alone possess. No. </div><div>It's because <b><i>He</i> is enough in me.</b> </div><div>When I fully embrace the One the world so desperately needs to know, that is when I so beautifully make Him known. </div><div>Not because I am asking the world to look at me, but because I am so locked in on Him they can't help but see the One who has captured my gaze.</div><div>I can only truly represent a heart I fully know. </div><div>That is when I become an ambassador for Christ. </div><div>So today, even when I feel like the tiny and powerless, I will focus my spirit on the only One with power to make me big and bold. He will take my itty bitty and do great big things as I stand surrendered. </div><div>What will my life say about Who He is today? </div><div> #SimpleTruth to power your day, you life and connect others to His tender grace.</div><div>~@JuliePMac </div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12891518637194718764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953998896190189769.post-63060774416015877332016-09-09T23:10:00.001-07:002016-09-09T23:12:33.185-07:00The Unexpected<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSUvSl5PpnxO6AmuZmHbaNp0v-WE4WE_gNUueDyTF3h5Lyki0yl0cM5-OEIaq4o8BgkrGNsOtobInswstfRSQG8kwDUMzRF_nTirSdxZ1CMgz-7wcJQtxUZ9kJej9vFeoCztVIIhqJnYeW/s640/blogger-image--1456236087.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSUvSl5PpnxO6AmuZmHbaNp0v-WE4WE_gNUueDyTF3h5Lyki0yl0cM5-OEIaq4o8BgkrGNsOtobInswstfRSQG8kwDUMzRF_nTirSdxZ1CMgz-7wcJQtxUZ9kJej9vFeoCztVIIhqJnYeW/s640/blogger-image--1456236087.jpg"></a></div><br></div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It hit me a while back. </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">One of those deep thought moments where truth just pierces and you see what you couldn't see when you had to <b>take that first step of faith that scared you and almost paralyzed you.</b></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It hit me when I was siting on a bus on a once and a lifetime trip that had all come about because of <b>something I never expected. </b></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><u>I never expected</u> to be diagnosed with major health issues. </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><u>I never expected</u> to try all the "right" things and still end up living in daily pain that no one even really knew about or understood. </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><u>I never expected</u> for a quick message to turn into the path to pain free. </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><u>I never expected</u> on that path to find the opportunity to share this hope with others. </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><u>I never expected</u> to be reduced to tears over stories of success and renewed health. </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><u>I never expected</u> so many doors of ministry to open simply because I shared my struggle. </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><u>I never expected</u> to be able to speak the love and life of Jesus into so many people's circumstances. </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><u>I never expected</u> financial blessing and freedom. </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>I never expected any of it.</b> </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Why? </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Because <b>I was living from my limited expectations instead of from my LIMITLESS God. </b></span></div><div><b style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></b></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I was dreaming from a safe place. </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I was compartmentalizing my life, unable to see the possibilities of <b>where heaven meets earth...where everything I have to offer is surrendered to Him in every place, in every situation. </b></span></div><div><b style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></b></div><div><b style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">My mission is to lay down MY mission and take up HIS in any and every opportunity He places before me. </b></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Worship.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Writing.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Speaking.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Plexus.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Health.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">All of these are pieces of my dream- glimpses of who I am- who HE created me to be. </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b><u>And they are all His</u></b>.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I long to be a person that allows the Lord to loose heaven through me. </span></div><div><b style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I never expected God to use something that I hadn't even considered. </b></div><div><b style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">But He did. </b></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">And I am thankful I get to share that with others. </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">One year ago He prompted me to step out in scary faith and bare my soul. </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It's been a journey of growth that has stretched me in so many ways.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">And I wouldn't trade it for a thing. </span></div><div><b style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I know it's only just begun. </b></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><b style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The only way to limit less in life is to live LIMITLESS in CHRIST!! </b></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">#SimpleTruth for your day, your week, your year...life! :) </span></div><div style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12891518637194718764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953998896190189769.post-14688638759910423992016-07-26T06:51:00.001-07:002016-07-26T06:52:24.432-07:00South Carolina Heat and Jesus Fire<div>
<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8T90_hx9ZJhfn8l-57aG6GZZ060vNQK9GuK9GHq4uoze8F0WkUWJ72SOwU6lRHPe68ck5PxFBhF3K70Qev8UuYAi9m-J6o3dPU1QRYmVqbLfzIYpDXMddeb5U3ia2mgdGtI-TR5PKZT0O/s640/blogger-image--1787956130.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8T90_hx9ZJhfn8l-57aG6GZZ060vNQK9GuK9GHq4uoze8F0WkUWJ72SOwU6lRHPe68ck5PxFBhF3K70Qev8UuYAi9m-J6o3dPU1QRYmVqbLfzIYpDXMddeb5U3ia2mgdGtI-TR5PKZT0O/s640/blogger-image--1787956130.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div>It's hot. Like I just want to hire people to fan me hot. If you haven't lived in the south, and you don't know what SC 100 degree heat feels like, you can just nod and pretend. </div>
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<div>If you have, you just said, "Bless her heart" and meant it. </div>
<div>You don't leave anything in the car during the daylight hours unless you want it warped or cooked. Ask Jarrett's poor Chipotle rewards card he left on the dash. </div>
<div>And God bless your soul if you sit down on leather seats with anything shorter than capris. It's the kind of hot you feel with every breath. It's humid and hot and even the shade wants relief down here. </div>
<div>And while I complain and fan with my old church fan in the car(not even kidding- see pic))</div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqDAvJ9DNZnbhZ1HFM9tXCDTsilAygt7RQvjR45EuHoiYw5KUaVE0iZBGdV4GGQay_OLs3TYtMXTB2hYeBSMekglEU6beAQoME0dPxh7FsJYRUEpNR34gdJq-ceyVgp2_JfbSkFOBhVwuz/s640/blogger-image--1436232238.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqDAvJ9DNZnbhZ1HFM9tXCDTsilAygt7RQvjR45EuHoiYw5KUaVE0iZBGdV4GGQay_OLs3TYtMXTB2hYeBSMekglEU6beAQoME0dPxh7FsJYRUEpNR34gdJq-ceyVgp2_JfbSkFOBhVwuz/s640/blogger-image--1436232238.jpg"></a></div><br></span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">WITH the air running...all of the sudden, I remember. </span></div>
<div><br></div>
<div>I remember all those Facebook posts about a countdown to summer I saw everybody posting and the longings for heat filled bathing suit weather and all the sunshine. </div>
<div>We asked for these days. </div>
<div>We longed for change. </div>
<div>But for that cold season to leave, heat had to arrive. </div><div>Change could only come with heat. </div>
<div><br></div>
<div><b>No doubt: Heat changes things.</b> </div>
<div><br></div>
<div>And so it is when God allows the heat, the fire of life to come to that area where I've been asking for change...and I pitch a fit. I fan and whine wanting the heat to be turned down because it's just hard to breathe sometimes. </div>
<div><b>But He is changing my season and the heat has to come. </b></div>
<div>He is transforming this vessel and the fire has to <u>breakdown what was to prepare for what will be.</u></div>
<div><br></div>
<div>And I have to trust Him. </div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Melted hearts in the hands of the Refiner.</div>
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</div>
<div><b>The fire doesn’t change our worth, it </b>changes our purpose.</div>
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<div>Melted gold is still gold…its just being shaped by the Creator into something that is going to <i><b>add</b></i><b> to its value, not detract from it!</b></div>
<div><br></div>
<div>It will not be comfortable or easy. </div>
<div>It may feel like running barefoot on a SC blacktop some days. </div>
<div>But there's a big patch of country grass and clover waiting to pause and cool my weary feet and my racing heart along the way and it's right next to the heart of my Daddy. </div>
<div><br></div>
<div>So when the heat comes and the fire blazes, just know that <u>what we call destruction, God calls preparation for purpose. </u></div>
<div><b>It may feel like an end of <i>good</i> things, but in reality it is the beginning of <i>GOD</i> things. </b></div>
<div><br></div>
<div>God's plans are to prosper us, to PROPEL us into our purpose and future. </div>
<div>He is our Refiner. </div>
<div>He is the Rebuilder of broken walls. </div>
<div><br></div>
<div>So the next time you feel like Jarrett's chipotle rewards card left on the dash in this SC summer heat- all warped and bent- remember that it just means <b>you're ready and able to be shaped for a purpose you may not yet know in the hands of your Father who DOES. </b></div>
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<div>Fan on fiends. But don't remove yourself from the hands of the Refiner. </div>
<div><b>He makes all things new.</b> </div>
<div><br></div>
<div>#SimpleTruth for when the heat comes. </div>
<div>Praying you know your worth in Christ today and everyday.</div>
<div>~Julie </div>
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<div><b> </b></div><div><div><b>“I will bring that group through the fire and make them pure. I will refine them like silver and purify them like gold. They will call on my name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘These are my people,’ and they will say, ‘The LORD is our God.’””</b></div><div><b>Zechariah 13:9 NLT</b></div></div><div><b><br></b></div><div><div><b>“For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.”</b></div><div><b>Isaiah 43:19 NLT</b></div><div><br></div></div><div><b><br></b></div><div><b><br></b></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12891518637194718764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953998896190189769.post-83472353601675399882016-06-28T07:31:00.001-07:002016-06-28T07:31:56.675-07:00Gratitude>Grumbling<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh163S8uf2YlejoQGtMvFm_uwZym-uWaFSD6TO07GMAkaiPMicETJSGB8ztrq1fkFH0CPhCGo4aTi-0j-yTETRwI4WYcZAeK8abl_FlD73DIcp6CyQfoL5r1hMUo-lnpmdmy1ZsVHZxhSPC/s640/blogger-image-1142821890.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh163S8uf2YlejoQGtMvFm_uwZym-uWaFSD6TO07GMAkaiPMicETJSGB8ztrq1fkFH0CPhCGo4aTi-0j-yTETRwI4WYcZAeK8abl_FlD73DIcp6CyQfoL5r1hMUo-lnpmdmy1ZsVHZxhSPC/s640/blogger-image-1142821890.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div>I don't know about you, but in my life, it's so easy to fall into the trap of judging others for their grumbling and then justifying my own. </div><div>I see it around me, but am blind to it in my own life. And then I wonder why all the bumps and bruises. It's because I've been walking blind. <b>Grumbling only increases my stumbling in the place I am walking through. </b></div><div><b><br></b></div><div>God is sovereign. </div><div>Not just over the situations I like, but even over the ones I don't. </div><div>God is good. </div><div>Not just in the situations that make me happy, but even in the ones that shake me to my core. </div><div> </div><div>Those simple truths are what fuel my gratitude. </div><div>I have to let the fire of those truths sweep through my heart to refine and purify my heart, my mind, my intentions, my plans, and my actions. </div><div><br></div><div>Gratitude opens my eyes to see not just A WAY but to see HIS WAY- no matter how dark or daunting the place I'm in. </div><div><br></div><div><b>Gratitude is transformational. </b></div><div><b>Grumbling is toxic. </b></div><div><b>So what am I choosing: toxicity or transformation? </b></div><div><b><br></b></div><div>Everything I encounter may not be the situation I want, but the ONE I want above all has already seen it, known it, and made every provision for me so I can walk through it victoriously. </div><div><br></div><div><b>He is sovereign. He is good. And He wants a relationship with me. </b></div><div><b>THAT is worth my attitude of gratitude. </b></div><div><br></div><div>It isn't easy, but it's possible when we focus our mind on Jesus, our eyes on the Father, and our ears on the Spirit. </div><div>Praying that in His strength we can all walk out that #SimpleTruth today. ~Julie<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12891518637194718764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953998896190189769.post-45718514787602866032016-04-15T06:29:00.001-07:002016-04-15T06:29:12.658-07:00Herder to Hero: Finding Purpose in the Everyday<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjxfNkymML00iLwvP6AHXuP_Z_zcuhRZ_ViFaLdF6Root0Rgspb5TRRk2phRIvmZ4jG0CsglB1NZ9TlxpdJkJCft4_w776SZ6nfEvsycAqZh10l9vTTg_E-_D4tjHoyO4rSDJed2AFBPcx/s640/blogger-image--1772263592.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjxfNkymML00iLwvP6AHXuP_Z_zcuhRZ_ViFaLdF6Root0Rgspb5TRRk2phRIvmZ4jG0CsglB1NZ9TlxpdJkJCft4_w776SZ6nfEvsycAqZh10l9vTTg_E-_D4tjHoyO4rSDJed2AFBPcx/s640/blogger-image--1772263592.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div>Sometimes we want the grand purpose of a giant slayer when Jesus is asking us to be a faithful sandwich deliverer and sheep herder. </div><div>David was often called from his sheep pen to the battlefield...but it was only to take the soldiers their sandwiches. His dad sent him to feed the fighters and bring back, not his own amazing story, but the story of his brothers. </div><div>David lived his life serving sheep, slaying animals, satisfying hunger, and telling <i>other</i> people's stories. </div><div>Instead of getting to stay where all the action was, "David went back and forth", the Bible says. </div><div><br></div><div>Maybe we can all relate to that a little? </div><div><b>Stuck in the back and forth.</b> Living what feels like the movie "Ground Hog Day", listening to stories all around us, but so painfully aware we are never moving forward in our own<b>. </b></div><div><br></div><div><b>Before David was a hero, he was a herder.</b> But it was that day in and day out herding that prepared him for the day he was to be a hero. </div><div><br></div><div>When we are longing for some glorious purpose on a well manicured platform, what we need to understand is that it may show up as a dirty, screaming giant in the middle of your daily delivery. </div><div>Will we be positioned?</div><div>Will we be ready? </div><div>Will we consider it someone else's problem? </div><div>Will we have tended our stinky sheep so faithfully that we are confident to take on the giant slaying?</div><div><br></div><div>I <i>want</i> to answer yes. </div><div>But some days, I think I am so busy complaining about my back and forth, that I never even see the great big purpose he sends into my path. </div><div><br></div><div><b>Our faithfulness in the back and forth positions us to be propelled into the heart of our purpose</b>. </div><div><br></div><div>When you have trusted God to fight for you and be with you in your behind the scenes battles, you won't run from that looming giant out in front of the world...you will run <i>TO</i> it. </div><div>You will wonder why everyone else is running away. </div><div>You will stand in confidence that God is bigger than that giant in the path of your purpose...because you know <b>He put it there to propel and prepare you for whatever is next. </b></div><div>Just like with David, people may not understand your willingness to take on the giant...but, they didn't see the fights you've already come through. </div><div>You can say with boldness, </div><div><b>“The LORD who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine!” </b></div><div><b>1 Samuel 17:37 </b></div><div><b><br></b></div><div><b>The herder became a hero because he trusted in Him. </b></div><div>The Lord who rescues is the Lord who redeems. </div><div>He rescues you in the everyday to redeem you for that some day. </div><div>That day your purpose looms large and you know for a fact you are beaten and unable so you consider running back to the sheep pen and sandwich delivery. But then, you stop listening to everyone scream in fear and discount your contribution and you start listening to the One who has assured your victory because HE is more than able!!<b> </b></div><div><b><br></b></div><div><b>Don't resent your days in the sheep pen...its preparing you for the giant that marks the path of your purpose.</b> </div><div><br></div><div>#SimpleTruth for your everyday as you wait for that some day. </div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12891518637194718764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953998896190189769.post-79274952504913675492016-03-28T08:39:00.000-07:002016-03-28T09:58:08.448-07:00Simply Marvelous<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2wzw36RpvCvUFl9cZV2ktbxzKyj40QL684ggvP9oHcetlghehDuu1Ne8WzKVvAIGjNfGvf_Ynu-WBQ8yQe7-5Hkn569FeWMrMPC5HXnlgp8Zee5h747N9Dwja7_8s6x31cZnQBXI4T9Nw/s640/blogger-image--67447849.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2wzw36RpvCvUFl9cZV2ktbxzKyj40QL684ggvP9oHcetlghehDuu1Ne8WzKVvAIGjNfGvf_Ynu-WBQ8yQe7-5Hkn569FeWMrMPC5HXnlgp8Zee5h747N9Dwja7_8s6x31cZnQBXI4T9Nw/s640/blogger-image--67447849.jpg"></a></div><br></div><br></div><div>
For a preacher's daughter turned preacher's wife in the south, the Resurrection of Jesus is not new news to me. </div>
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As a matter of fact, it is the sole reason I can take a breath to the deep part of my lungs. <br>
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But even though I intentionally keep the knowledge of that truth before me...I found myself frozen over one word as I read about the familiar scene of the Resurrection in <b>Luke 24:12:</b><br>
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<b>“But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home <i>marveling </i>at what had happened.”</b></div>
<b><u>Marvel.</u></b></div>
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In the original Greek, this verb carries the meaning to <u>properly wonder at, be amazed, astonished out of one's senses, awestruck</u>. It's root word- a noun- means that the "marvel" is something that powerfully strikes the viewer <u>personally and evokes an emotional astonishment.</u> </div>
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Peter saw the stone rolled away, the grave cloths folded, the tomb empty. </div>
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And he left marveling: amazed, awestruck, personally and emotionally impacted by what he had seen. </div>
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And it positioned him for a step of faith. </div>
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<b>Have I stopped truly marveling at the resurrection? </b></div>
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<b>Have I stopped allowing the power and awesomeness of what Jesus did for me impact me deeply, personally? </b><br>
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Are we living so guarded that the power of the Resurrection no longer leaves us astonished and undone? </div>
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Or maybe that is what we are holding at bay: the possibility, the idea, the fear of some area we have in lock down becoming undone. </div>
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And so we meander by the empty tomb every now and then...never really looking in...comfortable and content with the concept of Jesus and His resurrection- but nothing more.<br>
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<b>When we marvel and find ourselves emotionally impacted and amazed out of our senses, we can at the same moment find ourselves positioned for a step of faith. </b></div>
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A step of faith that requires us to stop believing that whatever we are stuck in is all there is. </div>
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A step of faith that asks us to trade death for life in every area- even that deepest, darkest place. </div>
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Why?<br>
<u>Because Jesus went to the deepest, darkest place and won the victory in your stead and in mine. </u></div>
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<b>Peter's marveling positioned him for a step of transforming faith that turned him from ashamed denier to powerful declarer. </b></div>
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God doesn't need us to marvel to stroke his ego.<br>
<b>He wants us to marvel to fuel our faith. </b></div>
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<b>He longs for us to move past the idle thought of the resurrection and move forward in the POWER of the resurrection! </b></div>
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We have to let it impact us personally, deeply, emotionally, individually. </div>
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Why?<br>
<b>Because it will position us to be transformed from ashamed deniers to powerful declarers.</b></div>
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Run to the tomb. </div>
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Stoop and look inside.</div>
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See that Jesus is.not.there. </div>
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<b>Move past the mention of the resurrection...and MARVEL at the magnitude of what the resurrection means for every piece and every part of who you are. </b></div>
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<i>That</i> is where the life change happens. </div>
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<i>That</i> is when the chains fall. </div>
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<i>That</i> is when the walls crumble. </div>
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<i>That</i> is when grace wins: <b>when we refuse to be blinded by our mediocre meanderings and choose to MARVEL at the finished work of Jesus Christ. </b></div>
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<b>Marvel at the resurrection. </b></div>
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<b>Then, step out in a faith full of wonder and power like never before. </b></div>
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#SimpleTruth for a <b>marvelous</b> life. </div><div style="text-align: left;">And my soul shall ever be. </div>
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"How marvelous! How wonderful! </div>
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And my soul shall ever be. </div>
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How marvelous! How wonderful!</div>
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Is my Savior's love for me." </div>
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-hymn, "I Stand Amazed" </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12891518637194718764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953998896190189769.post-18560245719122318002016-01-09T11:58:00.001-08:002016-01-09T11:58:05.187-08:00Falling into Faith<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIjWbHtqgu51kI7NJyrM4VRw73ElyC4EVvcoukqhsfnRzg68ekkKoeCScS85WBGwQk2QRiCmF0nfvUpTn1_IPpPedwand3b8zAZQyj7bQVlqkBBl-Hhb6wqy7FbuyQXC2vZkBDF-WPAyQc/s640/blogger-image-979887444.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIjWbHtqgu51kI7NJyrM4VRw73ElyC4EVvcoukqhsfnRzg68ekkKoeCScS85WBGwQk2QRiCmF0nfvUpTn1_IPpPedwand3b8zAZQyj7bQVlqkBBl-Hhb6wqy7FbuyQXC2vZkBDF-WPAyQc/s640/blogger-image-979887444.jpg"></a></div><br></div>Sometimes it's just plain hard to believe this. For <i>real</i>. <div>To trust that God not only has all the pieces but that <b>He has the picture on the box. </b></div><div>He knows what the grand and beautiful masterpiece looks like, and He is placing every piece...even the hard, hurting ones...and you and I can trust He knows not just THAT it fits, but HOW and WHY it fits. </div><div><b>And that is enough.</b> </div><div>I am learning to live like I know this and believe it. It's not easy...but I am FAITHING it even when I don't <i>FEEL</i> it. Part of our family mission statement declares "God is always at work to bring about His purposes." </div><div>This...THIS is what I want to live and not just say. And leave a legacy as one who walked it out <u>even when </u>it was a stumbling, ugly hot mess. <div><br></div><div>That's my prayer for you, too. <i>Not</i> as one who has arrived, but as one who is ONE the journey. <div>#faithoverfear </div><div>#SimpleTruth<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div></div></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12891518637194718764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953998896190189769.post-88315371132299855322015-11-22T07:11:00.001-08:002015-11-22T07:52:54.027-08:00Hello. Goodbye.<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh622Ek_gc5-vebRNYSxp-SX8ltkM3qQmhIcvPz2bpIpWTS1JsEEqDawtG0CeJo-KX-qZ_M7PeB-Z6tJesWXCLuGy6clek8jMdU1kJjzch8s027t0KnzcCFvKn1xO6fIc60vnlaVDmehz6i/s640/blogger-image-1981573441.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh622Ek_gc5-vebRNYSxp-SX8ltkM3qQmhIcvPz2bpIpWTS1JsEEqDawtG0CeJo-KX-qZ_M7PeB-Z6tJesWXCLuGy6clek8jMdU1kJjzch8s027t0KnzcCFvKn1xO6fIc60vnlaVDmehz6i/s640/blogger-image-1981573441.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<p>This small sign. I almost chose to write different words in this particular chalkboard amidst my Christmas decorations. And even after I made it, I thought, "Oh well, I can change it later."</p><p> But this little sign has had more impact on me over the last 2 weeks than I could have ever imagined.</p><p> I have realized that I have said "hello" to so many things in my life when I should have been saying goodbye. </p><p>The enemy has fear knock at my door? <span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">I say hello. Worry rings the doorbell? I say come in. Loneliness asking to come in? I say hello. Unworthiness pounds away? I say hello.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"> But why do I struggle so to trust turning my door knob when Jesus sends grace knocking? Comfort? Joy? Confidence? </span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Hello. Hello to truth. That is what I need to say, not just in this season, but every season that life brings.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"> It seems that a lot of things have been coming to my door lately asking for entrance. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><b>But what a simple reminder that if it isn't a thought, a word, an attitude, a mindset that brings me straight to the comfort and joy of my Father's heart, then it isn't my Father who is bringing it.</b> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">I never thought I'd use this phrase in a Simple Truth sharing moment, but this is what keeps coming to my mind: </span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><b><i>Bye, Felicia! </i></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Maybe I need to make that chalkboard too! </span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Everyday, we choose- we choose our hellos and goodbyes and therefore <b>open up the home of our hearts or close it off to a multitude of things. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">What are you saying hello to? </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">What are you saying goodbye to? </span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><b>May our hellos in every area of our life usher in Holy Spirit truth. And may we have the courage to say goodbye to all that distracts and drains us of His power.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"> Bye, Felicia, indeed. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Hello, Comfort and Joy. </span></p>
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<p>#SimpleTruth for every season. </p></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12891518637194718764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953998896190189769.post-87238943856016491582015-11-02T08:59:00.001-08:002015-11-02T08:59:57.547-08:00God is Not a Spectator<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1iX77fg90PN3VPtd2QrlKQecQ30xbUl-HVyhbgNjRc2c-nXlN1zJX26px_g3KlUFaORnOlP94O-cktNqUMfIuuNthnpx-vFdWLaUPsPrM_6mN72ruH7A_uQ6cyAOmi9EvwBR9Uxp7nKwh/s640/blogger-image-2001080628.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1iX77fg90PN3VPtd2QrlKQecQ30xbUl-HVyhbgNjRc2c-nXlN1zJX26px_g3KlUFaORnOlP94O-cktNqUMfIuuNthnpx-vFdWLaUPsPrM_6mN72ruH7A_uQ6cyAOmi9EvwBR9Uxp7nKwh/s640/blogger-image-2001080628.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div>Some days are slippery and you need truth that is sticky...that holds on to you as you hold tight to it. Today,<br>as I was digging for this kind of grabby truth, the Holy Spirit led me to these words: </div><div><b><br></b></div><div><b>“The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”</b></div><div><b>Deuteronomy 31:8</b></div><div><br></div><div>When God says He will NEVER do a thing, we sometimes glaze past what it truly means. </div><div>He says He will NEVER forsake us. </div><div>This means he will ALWAYS do the opposite of forsaking us: </div><div>harbor, have, hold, keep, redeem, rescue, save, reclaim, adopt, advocate, cherish, defend, favor, maintain, protect, pursue, support, uphold, vindicate. </div><div><br></div><div>It's even more than Him just being present in my life- as if that weren't enough! My God isn't just a spectator as I spin round on this globe. No- He is constantly ACTIVE in my life. </div><div>For me, <b>these words take the blinders off of my limited perspective of God's involvement and investment in every piece and part of my life.</b> </div><div>THIS is His PROMISE for you in the middle of your circumstance. </div><div><br></div><div>That unknown in front of you? </div><div>God has already been there. </div><div>Done that. </div><div>Prepped it for your arrival. </div><div>And now He's walking straight into it WITH you, showing you every step, every leap, every sprint required for Victory. </div><div><br></div><div>Fear is a liar and a power sucker. </div><div>God is Truth and your Power Source. </div><div><br></div><div>Don't be afraid- be amazed. </div><div>Don't be discouraged- be encouraged. His promises will not fail. </div><div><br></div><div>#SimpleTruth for your day. </div><div>~Julie </div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12891518637194718764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953998896190189769.post-51104589458436226932015-10-16T16:31:00.001-07:002015-10-16T16:31:42.095-07:00Somebody Hit the PAUSE Button<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivCnWYC3fk3O3prcfhFokgOLNUHtUVprimxjHFr189Am9zH6Cnk3XcPhAg-1o-65sa5FkZF2SixCztRXQ32UBjukLGSmGEuTFFB3ns08GS5VWMdJKz6AuompI5hhB2pbJgZXBgPbl1DBz3/s640/blogger-image--1892246283.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivCnWYC3fk3O3prcfhFokgOLNUHtUVprimxjHFr189Am9zH6Cnk3XcPhAg-1o-65sa5FkZF2SixCztRXQ32UBjukLGSmGEuTFFB3ns08GS5VWMdJKz6AuompI5hhB2pbJgZXBgPbl1DBz3/s640/blogger-image--1892246283.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div>Guess what?! This month is at the halfway point. Maybe you're like me and you look up and go, "Wait! Did I hit snooze?? How am I already here?!" </div><div>I have goals yet to write, lists yet to check off, intentions to unshelve! </div><div>And so I get into a ridiculous panic and scurry to feel busy about something because busy means accomplished, right?? </div><div>Wrong.</div><div><b>Step away from that busy button. </b></div><div>Now is a great time to hit the PAUSE button. </div><div>It's time to take time. </div><div>Time to really reflect on where you are, where you want to go, and how to get there..but also, really check and see if what you are choosing each day will actually get you where you want to be.</div><div> </div><div>So WHY is it a good time to PAUSE? </div><div><br></div><div>Because you still have the whole last half of this month to make the choices that will put you were you want to be! </div><div>Whether you are focusing on your personal spiritual health, physical health, family issues, health goals, or business goals or ALL THE THINGS this month, know that there is <b>POWER in the PAUSE.</b> </div><div>And when you add PRAYER? It's a triple threat!!</div><div><b>PAUSE+PRAYER=POWER! </b></div><div>These are the 3 P's that will take you places. </div><div>But instead of running ahead distracted, disgruntled, disheartened, deafened by the realities around you...</div><div><b>1. Pause</b> to open your eyes to see where you are and what you are doing in that place.</div><div><b>2. Pray</b> for the Lord to show you HIS desire for those things, those goals you're running after...and LISTEN to His response.</div><div><b>3. Power up! </b>in His presence and find the strength to make the choices that you weren't able to on your own.</div><div><br></div><div>I am praying for each of you!</div><div><b>Hit that PAUSE button today!!</b></div><div><b>"Be still and know that I am God..."</b></div><div><b>Psalm 46:10</b></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12891518637194718764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953998896190189769.post-44035853274801637592015-10-12T05:27:00.001-07:002015-10-12T05:27:14.860-07:00When I Forget God is Faithful<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWAGc46BAZVaAIrp79r8pVpfWfybuh2AJLzQoxoRfY2vMgTSE-4qWU3ClbACfcCXjtbFcnScBH-JWj3c_WBePAKx4SQ5HbDICd1PADJ1nt7Xtifo9OP0m9KXe2zXAhHX6ZLVawk4A6470E/s640/blogger-image--450745712.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWAGc46BAZVaAIrp79r8pVpfWfybuh2AJLzQoxoRfY2vMgTSE-4qWU3ClbACfcCXjtbFcnScBH-JWj3c_WBePAKx4SQ5HbDICd1PADJ1nt7Xtifo9OP0m9KXe2zXAhHX6ZLVawk4A6470E/s640/blogger-image--450745712.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div>Sometimes our circumstances cast such a thick fog around us, that it becomes hard to see God in the midst of where we are. That is when have to look back and <b>remember Him where we were.</b> </div><div>It is way too easy for me to complain and wail like the Israelites in the desert, instead of stand in faith and call on My Deliverer and Red Sea Parter. </div><div><br></div><div>How quickly I forget. </div><div>And that's why I have to be diligent to remember. </div><div><br></div><div>That's why you see me scribbling in my journal, putting God's promises up on my door frames, mirrors and car dash- not because I want the appearance of holy...but because I have to remind my thick headed, stubborn flesh of the Truth of Who my God is:</div><div> <b>Faithful. Present. Fully Able.</b> </div><div><br></div><div>When I look around and feel claustrophobic because the reality of life is pressing in on every side, that is the <b>moment of Truth: the moment I press back with the Truth I choose to keep before my eyes- God is Faithful. </b></div><div><b><br></b></div><div>Believe me, just like the Israelites, I have deserts I wander in, but I am choosing <b>not to set up camp there</b>- and I remind the enemy to not issue me an address- because <b>I am just traveling through</b>. </div><div><br></div><div><b><u>My God is ever faithful, and He is leading the way. </u></b></div><div><b><br></b></div><div><b>"...if you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand firm at all."</b></div><div><b>Isaiah 7:9 </b></div><div>#SimpleTruth #first5 @first5app @proverbs31ministries @wblight </div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12891518637194718764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953998896190189769.post-56669727877394597982015-10-05T07:55:00.001-07:002015-10-05T07:55:47.612-07:00Facing the Unknown<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF01LIuaP-TiUovKx7QWHtZVAvYx61CsjpDcFGqrPEkTC-2gcQm1-CT6rJahN9pIWr26pxI142iWBKeJkBIH6En-jG_91wZQwGB_t1WorZodmL-mkP9NHUTqt5OYW74djmNUhQBGKI2uqY/s640/blogger-image-684407221.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF01LIuaP-TiUovKx7QWHtZVAvYx61CsjpDcFGqrPEkTC-2gcQm1-CT6rJahN9pIWr26pxI142iWBKeJkBIH6En-jG_91wZQwGB_t1WorZodmL-mkP9NHUTqt5OYW74djmNUhQBGKI2uqY/s640/blogger-image-684407221.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div>When I walked up to my front door by myself and found it standing open, it stopped me in my tracks. It took me a minute to process. Wait. This is different. Go in? Don't go in?
</div>
<div>I yelled an inquisitive "Hellooooo??" into my dark house except for a random light on in my room. Wait- why was my light on? Everyone should be gone. No cars are in the driveway. </div>
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<div>When you're standing in the face of the unknown- it can be terrifying and paralyzing. </div>
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<div><b>But you can't keep standing where you are. </b></div>
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<div>I was on the phone with my best friend and like friends on scary movies <b><i>NEVER</i></b> do, she reminded me to <b>NOT</b> go into the dark house alone. I walked over to my neighbors and they either didn't hear my knock, or couldn't respond to it. So, I stood there in between my yard and theirs wondering how to go into this unknown- <u>this place that was mine but I was stuck not being able to claim and settle into because of all of the what ifs.</u> What if someone was hiding and waiting. What if we had been robbed. What if I was about to be robbed. What if...what if...</div>
<div>
</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>Thankfully, my BFFs hubby came to my rescue- armed for battle. I could hear my heartbeat in my ears as we cautiously walked in and checked all the rooms and closets, afraid of what we would find. </div>
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<div>Nothing. </div>
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<div>The what ifs of the unknown didn't turn into the what are's. </div>
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<div>And isn't that often the way? </div>
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<div>Now don't hear me saying we need to run recklessly into the dark, scary places of life.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>But-</div>
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</div>
<div>We also can't stand frozen in the front yard or locked in the car in the driveway of the place God has told us to call home: where and who we are <i>called</i> and <i>created</i> to be. </div>
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<div>God doesn't expect you to blaze into the unknown on your own. He wants you to wait on Him, walk in alongside Him- because He is the One that arms you for any battles you may encounter along the way. </div>
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<div><b>As we walk with the Holy Spirit, we begin to see that so many of our what ifs about the unknown are not the what are's.</b> </div>
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<div>We can step out of the paralyzing terror, flip the lights on in that dark unknown place, <b>and find out it's home.</b> </div>
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<div><br></div>
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<div> And instead of grabbing the hand of a fellow panicker, find a friend- a voice of truth and wisdom- who skips the drama, and simply reminds you to not rush in alone, but <u>press in to Jesus</u>, the One who goes before you and with you into that unknown place. </div>
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<div><b>Whatever unknown you are facing, realize that to God, it is fully known. </b></div><div><b><br></b></div>
<div><b>Trust the One who sees what <i>is</i> and you won't be paralyzed any longer by the what ifs.</b></div>
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<div>#SimpleTruth </div>
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<div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12891518637194718764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953998896190189769.post-75379339289398424042015-09-28T09:54:00.000-07:002015-09-28T10:04:29.208-07:00The Banner Doesn't Lie<div style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 14px;">
In the not too far past, there was some big fight in the news. </div>
<div style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 14px;">
Not like a fight at school fight, or "I don’t like your opinion fight”- It was a boxing fight. </div>
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I don’t like boxing. </div>
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I find it rather barbaric and people really mess up their faces and noses and ears and…cognitive abilities. (Rocky fans, don’t hate on me- I still like inspirational boxing movies from time to time.)</div>
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<div style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 14px;">
So because this particular match was all the buzz, per the usual, it showed up in my Facebook newsfeed. </div>
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But something really struck me as a picture of all this popped up on my screen.</div>
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The fighter was on his way out to the ring with this entourage all around him- security, fancy women, coaches, trainers and the like. And then there was this one guy standing right behind him as they were walking the path to the ring who was consistently holding above the fighters head this attention grabbing belt that declared the fighter’s title.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0N81xsCY-a1nntFeTBQAbPa2k8xB9fD4-OPhamxWi_w0_jEgqNspI_wRicCBs39qMy7MUCSQ3cGQTYLEk1I8fC0CTl6tUaLBuKyn6REXUNL5PiepZ_WElqmHyqEac58mkcap-SipdWOOM/s1600/1410664879238_lc_galleryImage_LAS_VEGAS_NV_SEPTEMBER_13.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0N81xsCY-a1nntFeTBQAbPa2k8xB9fD4-OPhamxWi_w0_jEgqNspI_wRicCBs39qMy7MUCSQ3cGQTYLEk1I8fC0CTl6tUaLBuKyn6REXUNL5PiepZ_WElqmHyqEac58mkcap-SipdWOOM/s320/1410664879238_lc_galleryImage_LAS_VEGAS_NV_SEPTEMBER_13.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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This guys job was to make sure that everyone knew who this fighter was. It was his accomplishment on display so everyone could see why he deserved to be in the fight. </div>
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But I bet that boxer hadn’t won every single fight he had ever been in his whole life. I bet he’s had a few scars and bumps and bruises along the way- if in the ones he did win. He probably hasn’t thrown every punch correctly and he probably missed a few blocks. </div>
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<b>But he was still a champion. </b></div>
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<b>The belt doesn’t lie. </b></div>
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<br /></div>
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Now I am not a boxer- nor do I ever want to be- although I wouldn’t mind following their workout to get those killer arms.</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 14px;">
But...I <i>am</i> a fighter. </div>
<div style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 14px;">
I get into the ring daily as a Jesus follower.<br />
And I have the Holy Spirit and an entourage around me that help me stay focused and pressing into to Whom and what will train me for the fight in front of me. </div>
<div style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 14px;">
<b>But I can’t forget about the One behind me.</b><br />
<b>He is holding His banner over me that says “Love”</b>.<br />
Just like the song I used to sing in church as a child:<br />
"<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxPpOZXNL-w" target="_blank">His Banner Over Me is Love</a>" (linked here is a grown up Bethel Music version you will love)<br />
<br />
What simple words that I never quite understood until now.<br />
See, those words weren't just telling me about Jesus...they hold truth about <i><b>me</b></i>- my identity in Christ.<br />
<br />
I act like Jesus is constantly shaking His head in disgust at the opportunities I have missed in the Kingdom fights, or the punches from the enemy to my life that I so stupidly welcomed instead of blocking. I act like I have to cover the bumps, bruises and scars in shame.</div>
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But that would only be what would happen if it were <i>my</i> accomplishments that determined whether or not He holds that banner over my head. </div>
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But it isn’t my accomplishment…<b>it is <i>His</i>.</b><br />
<b>And Jesus says, "It is finished."(John 19:30)</b><br />
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 14px;">
<b>When I accept that He conquered death on the cross and won the complete victory for me, He holds that banner of LOVE high over my head saying, </b><br />
<b>“THIS IS THE ONE THAT I LOVE! </b><br />
<b>I won eternal victory for <i>HER</i>. </b><br />
<b>This one is my beloved! </b><br />
<b>She is <u>VICTORIOUS</u>!” </b><br />
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<u>And even when I mess up, that banner over me never changes. </u></div>
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Just like that fighter, that truth changes the way that you walk. </div>
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Confidence becomes a part of your stride, even when personal perfection isn’t always present. </div>
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Why? Because you know your title. </div>
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<b>You know who you are. And as a Believer, you know WHOSE you are. </b></div>
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I don’t deserve a place in the fight for His Kingdom, but Grace says otherwise.</div>
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His banner of Love over me is an <b>irrevocable title of Victory</b> by His righteousness that cannot be removed. </div>
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I have screwed up. I will screw up. </div>
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<b>But in Him I am a Love lavished, Grace given, Righteousness received champion.</b></div>
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<b>The Banner doesn’t lie.</b></div>
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Let’s start walking to the fight like we know Who we are and Whose we are. </div>
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Let’s live out loud for Jesus in a way that it becomes the evidence that LOVE is the banner He waves over us and that transforms us and sets us apart.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 14px;">
His banner over you is Love. </div>
<div style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 14px;">
#SimpleTruth that can transform. </div>
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<b>“He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.”</b></div>
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<b>Song of Solomon 2:4 </b></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12891518637194718764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953998896190189769.post-33552772525638329572015-09-21T09:36:00.001-07:002015-09-21T09:42:06.712-07:00Where Are You Going?<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1t5YsXl_RcFKHs6ktmFopSoYLsV-DW1KPW4nLPCPBb73IEg7bZW35WHo3ejrDdvwG0anQKFRjM0Y8EfA1-hyW8FxkDC2TN15eRR7hVzbFTd6HknTak6kx-mi9aulRO4s-riECISURmjIF/s640/blogger-image-326906109.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1t5YsXl_RcFKHs6ktmFopSoYLsV-DW1KPW4nLPCPBb73IEg7bZW35WHo3ejrDdvwG0anQKFRjM0Y8EfA1-hyW8FxkDC2TN15eRR7hVzbFTd6HknTak6kx-mi9aulRO4s-riECISURmjIF/s640/blogger-image-326906109.jpg"></a></div><br></div>She was running away.<br>
Mistreated. Used.<br>
Thats where we find Hagar in Genesis 16.<br>
And my flesh says, "Run, Hagar, run!"<br>
But then the angel of the Lord finds her, calls her by name and says, "...where have you come from and where are you going?"<br>
And she replies, "I'm running away from my mistress, Sarai."<br>
So that answered where she had been.<br>
But through His messenger, the Lord asked her TWO questions, and she never answered the second:<br>
"<i>WHERE</i> are you <i>GOING</i>?"<br>
<br>
When life mistreats us, we run because we are trying so desperately to get away. We are so bound and determined, planning and executing our escape route, that we never stop to think about where we are actually going.<br>
<b>We get so caught up in what we are getting away <i>from</i> that we never ask God what we should be heading <i>toward</i>.</b><br>
<b><br></b>
But if we would simply ask God the question, "God, <b>where do you want me to go</b>?", He would not have to ask the question, "Where are you going?".<br>
<br>
We are living in a sinful, fallen world amongst broken people like ourselves...so yes, the world will mistreat us. You can count on it.<br>
But that doesn't mean we should escape by making our own way.<br>
Because when we do, we end up creating more havoc than that we hoped to leave behind.<br>
We have to <u>ask God to show us the path He has for us</u>- to show us where we should be going.<br>
<b>And sometimes that is right back to face the stuff you wanted to escape.</b><br>
<br>
But you know what Hagar found out? She wasn't alone.<br>
She says in Genesis 16:13, "You are the God who sees me."<br>
See, <b>it wasn't escape she needed: it was the healing promises of the person of God.</b><br>
<br>
She stopped at the spring to refresh her physical body, but it was the refreshment for her soul that she needed most.<br>
When she believed and understood anew Who God was, and that He was for her, she was able to walk back toward the place from which she had run.<br>
<b>In that place is where she would give birth to God's promises for her life. </b><br>
<br>
There is purpose and healing in the path God chooses for your life-even when it feels more like persecution and pain. Even when He is asking you to labor amongst those who mistreat you, like He did Hagar.<br>
We already know, and He already knows, what it is we want to get away from...so <b>why not talk instead about what you are believing God to lead you <i>to</i>?</b><br>
<br>
<b>Whenever change or movement is involved, be sure it is motivated because you are called TO a thing rather than because you are trying to escape FROM a thing. </b><br>
If God calls you to remain, He will strengthen you to do the remaining.<br>
Believe me- even in the darkest, loneliest, suffocating moments...He is with you and is at work on your behalf.<br>
He is a good God, with a good plan for your life.<br>
<br>
It will not be easy.<br>
But set aside the urge to run.<br>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Paths blazed out of desperation rather than Divine direction </b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>often lead to destruction rather than deliverance.</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><br></b></div><div>Stop and marinate on that. </div><div><br></div>
In His voice, in His presence, we can know where we are going- <b>and it is with Him.</b><br>
We may not have all the details, but we know the direction in which He calls us to move: under His wing, in His shadow- <i>near</i> to Him.<br>
And even when the direction He calls us to isn't exactly what our plan and timing had looked like, we still steady on...<b>not running from a bad thing, but walking toward a God thing- learning and growing along the way as we keep the company of the Way-Maker.</b><br>
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I know you want to run away today.<div>Honestly, me too.<br>
But today, even if just for this moment...lets try <b>running to Him</b>, instead.<br>
<br>
#SimpleTruth<br>
#First5<br>
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<br></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12891518637194718764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953998896190189769.post-22670185272701967072015-09-19T10:33:00.003-07:002015-09-19T10:50:00.788-07:00From Normal to Necessary<div style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 14px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMCi1BStaxpZ23EgGWXqspuoDyRtMYgBQSAwjThd5A9H7iG8Q2Ut83O2gEg1mjSlBemQPFsF0oYRYffVIXqF1MdD3rAZtcPwJ5Jcrc8pCVT1cG8qcgj5bdXUhoA9tZuBOa_jrw006yeb7w/s640/blogger-image-1020226738.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMCi1BStaxpZ23EgGWXqspuoDyRtMYgBQSAwjThd5A9H7iG8Q2Ut83O2gEg1mjSlBemQPFsF0oYRYffVIXqF1MdD3rAZtcPwJ5Jcrc8pCVT1cG8qcgj5bdXUhoA9tZuBOa_jrw006yeb7w/s640/blogger-image-1020226738.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 14px;">
We all want normal. Familiar. Our worry isn’t challenged in that place and control is seemingly at our fingertips. We understand what we are doing and we know where we are going. </div>
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But what happens when we have to leave normal to travel into the necessary?</div>
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My life had been a picture of normal- at least <i>my</i> normal. </div>
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But then, God called me into my necessary. </div>
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And I wanted to go…until I began walking it out.</div>
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It is a strange and unfamiliar place. </div>
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Those of us who have always liked our normal, often don’t respond so well to our necessary.</div>
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It reminds me of Mary with her jar of expensive perfume, making her way to Jesus amidst all the men reclined around the table with Him. </div>
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She wasn’t in her normal place. And they did not like it. </div>
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She broke her jar of perfume and poured out her all before her Lord. </div>
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The fragrance of her normal was overpowered- it was filled with the fragrance of her necessary.</div>
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She untied her hair from its normal and used it as necessary to wash Jesus’ feet.</div>
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She stepped out of her normal and into her necessary because that is what brought glory to her Savior. </div>
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When she chose to step out of the distance her normal, she stepped into the intimacy of necessary- found at the feet of Jesus. </div>
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A year and a half ago, God called me out of my normal. And step after step I have walked in my necessary. </div>
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Can I be honest? I haven’t loved every moment of my necessary. </div>
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It is hard. It is lonely. It is overwhelming. </div>
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But time and time again, I find myself more at the feet of Jesus than ever before. </div>
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I find my life filled with the fragrance of the sacrifice that my necessary demands, and I breathe deep the strength, I grip tight to the trust that I had only heard about in my normal. </div>
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And when my Father saw I was willing to live in the necessary, He has kept calling me away from any semblance of normal that I begin to sit down in. </div>
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The necessary for His Kingdom has become my new normal. </div>
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Because the moment I begin to trust anything in myself is the moment I choose to stop trusting everything He is. </div>
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Change and I? We aren’t BFF’s.</div>
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But these changes have given me new perspectives.</div>
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I see how truly powerless I am.</div>
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I see how truly powerful He is.</div>
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I believe in miracles because I know the Miracle worker…I have sat at his feet. </div>
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I have seen Him in my necessary in ways my normal never allowed. </div>
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<b>Don’t be so afraid to leave your normal that you miss the blessing of your necessary. </b></div>
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Breaking your jar of what you have been holding tight to, and allowing that fragrance of that sacrifice to spill out? It changes the aroma of the atmosphere. It charges it with trust, power, faith like never before. </div>
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What normal will you step out of- even with fear and trembling- to step into the necessary God has called you to?</div>
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No normal is greater than the necessary of knowing Jesus more intimately. </div>
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It will not be easy, but it will be worth it.</div><div style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 14px;"><b><br></b></div><div style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 14px;"><div><b>“Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.””</b></div><div><b>Luke 7:44-47 NIV</b></div><div><br></div></div><div style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 14px;">#SimpleTruth </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12891518637194718764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953998896190189769.post-56996298145753983682015-09-09T05:51:00.001-07:002015-09-09T05:51:58.289-07:00How to Walk When Waters Rise<div><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw5gpKY8BVxBjSU35c5XSfUd5NfLhJdiYDMfpC4LAclUYASdNAv52oa_jZJ5Gt0H2DhjI5o9N_X5ppwn5KYieGLp5TlWUh32JCvVLX2Wd2OGrZ67BAa0t6tSrxWAPGuBy2ZDaY0UoPZaog/s640/blogger-image-1533705110.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw5gpKY8BVxBjSU35c5XSfUd5NfLhJdiYDMfpC4LAclUYASdNAv52oa_jZJ5Gt0H2DhjI5o9N_X5ppwn5KYieGLp5TlWUh32JCvVLX2Wd2OGrZ67BAa0t6tSrxWAPGuBy2ZDaY0UoPZaog/s640/blogger-image-1533705110.jpg"></a></div><br></b></div><div><b>"Every word of God proves true. He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him." Proverbs 30:5 </b></div><div><b><br></b></div><div>Genesis 8 is a great reminder that like Noah in the flood, the Truth of God's word and our obedience to it are our lifeline.</div><div> In every storm and in every season, we have to: </div><div>turn toward His truth, </div><div>trust He is for us, and </div><div>trudge forward. </div><div>It may be scary, it may be exhausting, it may cause us to be brave when we don't want to be, and the choices we make may cause people to think we are crazy, but obedience isn't about pleasing others- it's about trusting God's plan.</div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Moving with Him step by step- or maybe as Noah would say, hammer by hammer. Galatians 5:25 says,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"> "<b>Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit."</b> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Today, I am trying to get in sync. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">To trust His gait. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">To believe that even at a sweaty sprint or soothing stroll, He has a plan for my good. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Noah shut the door on the right side of obedience- world outside, and him with God. And that is where I want to be found when the floodwaters rise. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Even if I have the blisters and the callouses from keeping His way and trusting His word...I know my hope is with Him. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">So if you see me walking funny, or out of breath, or frozen in my tracks, or turning an uncommon direction, or bumbling through an unusual stride...I'm just doing all I can to keep in step with God. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">He alone knows the way to my ark...and that is peace for my every storm. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></div><div>#SimpleTruth #first5 @first5app @proverbs31ministries </div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12891518637194718764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953998896190189769.post-91765628601229023772015-08-25T13:20:00.001-07:002015-08-25T13:28:52.151-07:00No More Pack Mule<div><span style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhykJ6aoXpcRLIS_RWVL_nAnuk8RFG-fltQlKre2kuVwl_yzI6tc1uiI_3pjo56ANbjra2XnkSLH9Z-ZRtDhHF-wF-rnCnHNjcN3iPwuhU4BoIqMjR2OvOnYGTftw5rBcL0mN7-1CYOYzkz/s640/blogger-image--464822330.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhykJ6aoXpcRLIS_RWVL_nAnuk8RFG-fltQlKre2kuVwl_yzI6tc1uiI_3pjo56ANbjra2XnkSLH9Z-ZRtDhHF-wF-rnCnHNjcN3iPwuhU4BoIqMjR2OvOnYGTftw5rBcL0mN7-1CYOYzkz/s640/blogger-image--464822330.jpg"></a></div><br></span></div><span style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">By myself at a random table in a Starbucks post dropping off my kids at school. </span><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">That statement in itself is weird. </div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Me? By myself? Weird. </div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Kids at school? Weird. </div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><span style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Me at Starbucks? Ok...that's pretty normal.</span><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">But I feel way out of my skin eating breakfast and drinking a fancy flat white- instead of my plain old coffee- and no one across from me at the table. </div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">I don't quite know what to do with all this- the here and the not here. </div><div><span style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">I am caught thinking about <u>all I want to do and then, all I don't want to stop doing. </u></span></div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">And then the Spirit whispers deep: </div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><b>In order to pick something up, you have to lay something down. </b></div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div><span style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><u><b>You cannot carry all the things.</b></u> </span></div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">When my kids were small, my father in law always called me a pack mule. Why? Because every time he saw me, I was carrying all the things. </div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">From a kid to diaper bags to Batman to trash. Times 3. </div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">I carried it all. </div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Carry all the things. </div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">But that can't last forever. </div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Kids grow, bags shrink, Batman gets lost, and well...they still give me their trash. </div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">But the truth is, we can only carry certain loads in life <b>for a season.</b></div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">And then it's time to set one thing down to pick another up. </div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Better still? </div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><b>We set the <i>good</i> things down to pick the <i>God</i> things up. </b></div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">The load we have been used to carrying becomes too familiar. We tell someone wanting to help, "No don't grab anything! I've got it balanced. If you take one thing it will all come tumbling down." </div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">And maybe there <i>are</i> parts of what you're carrying that God wants you to keep. </div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">But maybe what's in my hands isn't meant for me to carry? </div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Maybe someone else is standing there empty handed because I am carrying the good thing that's supposed to be <i>their</i> God thing. </div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><b>I am not meant to carry all the things. </b></div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><b>I am meant to carry <i>my</i> God things</b>. </div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Because <i>that</i> load is light. </div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div><span style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">It may not be easy, but it is in proportion to the <u>strength He has released for me to carry it. </u></span></div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">So I am sitting here, letting go and laying down what isn't mine to carry. Not knowing what it all looks like to pick up what He has put in front of me. </div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">But...</div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">I know it's a <b>God sized load that I was designed to carry.</b> </div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">There are a lot of good things that I will have to lay down. </div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><b>But the God things can't be left behind</b>. </div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">And you have to lay something down to pick something up. </div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">I won't be grabbing <i>all</i> the things, but I will be holding <b>His</b> things...and that is a load I can bear. </div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><div><b>“Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”</b></div><div>Matthew 11:28-30 NLT</div></div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">#SimpleTruth </div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">#First5App</div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12891518637194718764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953998896190189769.post-35491919932742923292015-08-24T07:06:00.001-07:002015-08-24T07:06:30.973-07:00Will Love Provide?<div><span style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjytk5TZh56oXt1ktShS1oihpOhRLYBJQN_F_5Ul4bc6pNOoB9nxReVYOuDoNLFaYL_2EEaQRshiXAm526yGbclxcWXfmkDep9NNjb8COoOgaqxKiimGeMdcR85IYxspYkbksScVYKlsajC/s640/blogger-image-463187729.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjytk5TZh56oXt1ktShS1oihpOhRLYBJQN_F_5Ul4bc6pNOoB9nxReVYOuDoNLFaYL_2EEaQRshiXAm526yGbclxcWXfmkDep9NNjb8COoOgaqxKiimGeMdcR85IYxspYkbksScVYKlsajC/s640/blogger-image-463187729.jpg"></a></div><br></span></div><span style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">My mama loves to feed people.</span><div><span style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">If you are around her and you're hungry- then she feels she has failed. </span></div><div><span style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">I had a friend tell me once that she "thinks in food" when it comes to planning an event. This would be my mom. We often say my mom could take a can of beans and a loaf of bread and turn it into a four course meal. </span></div><div><span style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">We are only half kidding. </span><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">She always has food prepared or shortly available- long before we are ever even hungry, she has already thought of what she will serve us in love. She expresses her deep love for us through providing. She longs to meet our needs- and we all have to eat.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">In John 21(after Jesus's resurrection), the disciples are back to the business of fishing- and having no luck- when Jesus unexpectedly appears to them on the shore. After He calls out to them, they miraculously catch a huge net full. And then, they head to shore-to Jesus. </div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">But for me, this verse stands out:</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><b>"When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread." </b></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">These men had not known what their night would bring- that they would catch nothing until Jesus intervened; that they would be coming to a random place on the shore to connect with their risen Lord.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><b>But Jesus knew. </b></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><span style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><u>Jesus knew their hunger before they knew it.</u> </span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Those coals, the fish, the bread- <b>Jesus had been preparing for them what they didn't even know they would need in a place they didn't even know they would be. </b></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">He was already there, provision waiting- nourishment for hungry souls.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Jesus was showing them His deep love for them. Reminding them as He met their need that fullness only comes from Him. </div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">I think about the quiet moments on the shore as Jesus prepared the meal long before the disciples were even in sight- as He thought about them, cooked for them, prepared the provision before they ever arrived- and the love that was in every step. </div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Just let that movie play in your mind a moment. </div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">It was His joy to meet their need...and it is His joy to meet yours as well. </div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><b>Trust. Love will provide. Maybe not the way or time you expect, but He will always provide. </b></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">That sea you are sailing? The one that has left you tired, boat and belly empty?</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">He has a place of provision already prepared. He's simply waiting for you. He's waiting for you to hear His call from the shore to meet Him- even if it's not the way or the when you expected. He knew your hunger even before you did, and the food is ready and waiting. </div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">The smell of provision is already in the air. </div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Jesus longs to express His deep love for you.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Will you stop the work of casting your net long enough to come ashore and let Him love you and provide for you? Those overflowing nets of fish you're catching- that busy, full life? They are from Him anyway. </div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">The very thing you need, He has already provided...even before you know you need it. </div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Trust Him, get <i>near</i> to Him, so you don't miss the meal He has prepared for you! </div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">So...my mama may be feeding us a meal, but it's the provision of love we devour. And fueled for the next steps, we go on, knowing the next meal is already cooking in her heart...just like my Jesus. </div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Never doubt: Love provides. </div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">#SimpleTruth </div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12891518637194718764noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953998896190189769.post-45109298250091575662015-08-17T07:25:00.001-07:002015-08-17T07:25:27.851-07:00Perfect Peace in my Pieces<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpkhbKUOj9L6aInB8ffmfYG2dOVV2dMBClFYElX5eqKfP3OwXLKzKnqG7qrEh6UHLHk9qzvZN9fz-ByFI-fdvFvBYOGfrt902OHpQEd8VVaVEPpNzz9EnczxU9bE1B0X6X6cLtkMyjtVa3/s640/blogger-image-1767389257.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpkhbKUOj9L6aInB8ffmfYG2dOVV2dMBClFYElX5eqKfP3OwXLKzKnqG7qrEh6UHLHk9qzvZN9fz-ByFI-fdvFvBYOGfrt902OHpQEd8VVaVEPpNzz9EnczxU9bE1B0X6X6cLtkMyjtVa3/s640/blogger-image-1767389257.jpg"></a></div><br></div>I was scrambling in my living room to have my time with the Lord, while my mind was scrambling a thousand other places, a thousand miles an hour. <div>I was thinking about everything ahead in this coming season...all I knew and didn't even know- and it had me in a dead panic in my mind. </div><div>And then, before I even sat down to get in the Word, the Holy Spirit brought this verse up in my spirit:</div><div><br></div><div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">“You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!”</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Isaiah 26:3 NLT</div></div><div><br></div><div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Perfect peace. Not some version of peace- but perfect.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Perfect is defined as: "<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">having all the required or desirable elements, qualities, or characteristics; as good as it is possible to be. Absolute. Complete."</span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">In other words, it is exactly what we need when we need it. </div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Perfect peace.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Calm. </div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">From the inside out. </div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">It's learning to trust IN Him, rather than trusting things around and about Him.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"> </div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><b>Where you trust <i>FROM</i> determines the kind of peace you live <i>IN</i>. </b></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><b><br></b></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">As we trust <i>in</i> Him, He secures us with the unwavering assurance that abundant life is His promise(John 10:10); therefore every battle we are facing is to bring about that very purpose.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">He is the anchor for my thoughts in the raging sea of worry, doubt, and condemnation in my mind. When I fix my eyes on Him, I am no longer dizzied by the whirlwind of the world. I am locked into His gaze and I see what He sees, I can know what He knows: that every bit of it is for my good because He is Good. He is a good Father, giving me every good and perfect gift. </div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">(James 1:17, Romans 8:28)</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Maybe not always the ones I <b><i>want</i></b>...but it's always the ones that I <b><i>need</i></b>. </div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><b>I have to live my life with open eyes and open hands:</b></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><b>Eyes open, fixed on Him.</b></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><b>Hands open, filled by Him. </b></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><b><br></b></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><span style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">I have to stop looking in every direction hoping to see some answer for my questions- because </span><b style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><u><i>HE</i> IS THE ANSWER. </u></b></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><span style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">I have to stop reaching in every direction to grab what </span><u style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">feels and fills</u><span style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"> like I want it, when I want it- because </span><b style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><u><i>HE</i> IS MY PROVIDER. </u></b></div></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><b style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><u><br></u></b></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">When I scurry around and try to piece together peace in my life, it only results in stress, failure, frustration, anger.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">I am playing a game I will never win. </div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">It's time for me to stop worrying about the <i>win</i> and start <b>focusing on the <i>One</i>.</b></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><b><br></b></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">What are you fixed on today? </span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Believe me- I know it is hard to see past all that is screaming for your attention. </span></div><div>But <u>only One </u>focal point will bring <b><i>perfect</i> peace</b>. </div><div><br></div><div>He doesn't promise to remove whatever is raging in your life, but He promises to <u>love, grow, and be with you through it. </u></div><div><i>That</i> is perfect peace. </div><div><br></div><div>#SimpleTruth </div><div><br></div><div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><b>“Now may the Lord of peace himself give you his peace at all times and in every situation. The Lord be with you all.”</b></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><b>2 Thessalonians 3:16 NLT</b></div></div><div><br></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12891518637194718764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953998896190189769.post-81178430796985834542015-08-13T11:25:00.001-07:002015-08-13T11:25:14.497-07:00Knowing The Way<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFnv3rbBbAPaBG2Py5VJlUoN1XGXuRFf_Vg2gvheZKWKxHY5tl54tcdhJB6eQMhC6DGDzIaM80IApsK7DjAVR7cLffQMm2vg86dbAQMaUqSsRT1rYj4lOGCuio1qptTWtFasHmDQdzUSXD/s640/blogger-image--673692464.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFnv3rbBbAPaBG2Py5VJlUoN1XGXuRFf_Vg2gvheZKWKxHY5tl54tcdhJB6eQMhC6DGDzIaM80IApsK7DjAVR7cLffQMm2vg86dbAQMaUqSsRT1rYj4lOGCuio1qptTWtFasHmDQdzUSXD/s640/blogger-image--673692464.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div>The unknown can be paralyzing. </div><div>Feet turn to lead.</div><div>Mind fills with fear.</div><div>Heart beats out of chest.</div><div>And worry comes running to be my friend. </div><div>I have to walk forward. Because stopping isn't an option when I have a way to go, a journey to walk. </div><div>But sometimes? I just want to know the way. The whole way.</div><div>I want to see the Maps version of His plan pop up on my smart phone so I can see it all in a picture or in enumerated steps or even 3D satellite view. </div><div>I want to know the way. </div><div>But then, I remember that Jesus promised to be a "lamp unto my feet, a light into my path". A lamp at my feet assures I can see just enough to keep walking and not stumble and fall. A light on my path shows me the way right in front of me, not miles down the road. </div><div>Jesus shows me His way in my here and in my now. When I lock my gaze on Him, He doesn't just show me the way- He IS my Way...no matter the ease or difficulty of the path beneath my feet. </div><div>While I am concerned with knowing a way, Jesus draws me to Himself so I can know THE Way. </div><div>We all have a way we are wondering about and wandering around. </div><div>Let's stop our worry and let go of fear. </div><div>Trust The Way for His way on your way. </div><div>You may not know it all, but you know Him- and I promise that is enough. </div><div>That's may prayer for us today. </div><div>~Julie </div><div>#SimpleTruth </div><div>@first5App </div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12891518637194718764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953998896190189769.post-9555163953603976132015-08-11T06:23:00.001-07:002015-08-11T09:16:42.011-07:00The Leaving: Hope for a Mama's Heart<div>
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<span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH-iEo3v_UomzX8MUMOTAaK2G2UVgtta8sQtBpL_XdzBoI_KnajUQXFMOJnLAGq1vU6DDoBKEr3fXvxN1fodrMGfqmwhn6OhZswWki95bFM3P3r4yh5tU6f_knfh8y80OZpd9KJtmwXoCL/s640/blogger-image-597892360.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH-iEo3v_UomzX8MUMOTAaK2G2UVgtta8sQtBpL_XdzBoI_KnajUQXFMOJnLAGq1vU6DDoBKEr3fXvxN1fodrMGfqmwhn6OhZswWki95bFM3P3r4yh5tU6f_knfh8y80OZpd9KJtmwXoCL/s640/blogger-image-597892360.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">It's an unspoken mommy truth: one day they will leave.</span><br />
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This baby in your arms that you have waited on, prayed for, dreamed of, will one day drive away into their own dreams.</div>
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And so we push that truth down and blink away tears and keep that little unspoken dammed up behind our mommy wall so we can live the day.</div>
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Not because we wish it away or believe we can delay it, but simply because the thought of living without your heart seems paralyzingly impossible.</div>
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When they seek you out for a hug, advice, snuggles, quality time...the unspoken flashes before you, and you linger in that moment to help stand on your feet in the soon to come.</div>
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But how did we even get here? How are these little feet even walking, running, driving, going out into this big world without us holding those stubby little fingers in ours?</div>
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How did time sneak up on us?</div>
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No one tells you in those endless, sleepless nights of vomit and nightmares that it is inching closer. </div>
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No one tells you in the sibling squabbles and slamming doors that it's closing in on the horizon.</div>
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When we wish any of it away, we move past the very moments that unite us in the days beyond the leaving. </div>
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Every ache, every tear, every fight, every stumble are opportunities for roots to dig deeper, so they can fly higher.</div>
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Every laugh, every accolade, every face to face moment, every I love you, wire us for a lifetime of connection that distance cannot undo.</div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">So yes, our hearts will ache with love and pride that swell as they stand up in who they are, this grown up human they are destined to be. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">And yes, that unspoken truth behind that wall in the depths of our mama hearts may even burst and result in a massive flood of tears and emotion.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">But it isn't because we haven't known it was coming- it's because we didn't see how quickly it was approaching. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
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Mommies know their babies will leave.</div>
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But we breathe deep because our babies know the truth we have been imprinting on their hearts every moment before this leaving one: they can always come back. </div>
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Your baby may walk out of your door, they can never walk out of your heart.</div>
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Release the leaving and hold onto that mommy truth. </div>
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#SimpleTruth </div>
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