Gratitude>Grumbling

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. 

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. Grumbling only increases my stumbling in the place I am walking through. 

God is sovereign. 

Not just over the situations I like, but even over the ones I don't. 

God is good. 

Not just in the situations that make me happy, but even in the ones that shake me to my core. 

   

Those simple truths are what fuel my gratitude. 

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. 

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. 

Gratitude is transformational. 

Grumbling is toxic. 

So what am I choosing: toxicity or transformation? 

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. 

He is sovereign. He is good. And He wants a relationship with me. 

THAT is worth my attitude of gratitude. 

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. 

Praying that in His strength we can all walk out that #SimpleTruth today. ~Julie

Herder to Hero: Finding Purpose in the Everyday

Sometimes we want the grand purpose of a giant slayer when Jesus is asking us to be a faithful sandwich deliverer and sheep herder. 

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. 

David lived his life serving sheep, slaying animals, satisfying hunger, and telling other people's stories. 

Instead of getting to stay where all the action was, "David went back and forth", the Bible says. 

Maybe we can all relate to that a little? 

Stuck in the back and forth. 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. 

Before David was a hero, he was a herder. But it was that day in and day out herding that prepared him for the day he was to be a hero. 

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. 

Will we be positioned?

Will we be ready? 

Will we consider it someone else's problem? 

Will we have tended our stinky sheep so faithfully that we are confident to take on the giant slaying?

I want to answer yes. 

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. 

Our faithfulness in the back and forth positions us to be propelled into the heart of our purpose. 

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 TO it. 

You will wonder why everyone else is running away. 

You will stand in confidence that God is bigger than that giant in the path of your purpose...because you know He put it there to propel and prepare you for whatever is next. 

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. 

You can say with boldness, 

“The LORD who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine!” 

1 Samuel 17:37 

The herder became a hero because he trusted in Him. 

The Lord who rescues is the Lord who redeems. 

He rescues you in the everyday to redeem you for that some day. 

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!! 

Don't resent your days in the sheep pen...its preparing you for the giant that marks the path of your purpose. 

#SimpleTruth for your everyday as you wait for that some day. 

Simply Marvelous

For a preacher's daughter turned preacher's wife in the south, the Resurrection of Jesus is not new news to me. 

As a matter of fact, it is the sole reason I can take a breath to the deep part of my lungs.    

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 Luke 24:12:

“But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened.”

Marvel.

In the original Greek, this verb carries the meaning to properly wonder at, be amazed, astonished out of one's senses, awestruck. It's root word- a noun- means that the "marvel" is something that powerfully strikes the viewer personally and evokes an emotional astonishment. 

Peter saw the stone rolled away, the grave cloths folded, the tomb empty. 

And he left marveling: amazed, awestruck, personally and emotionally impacted by what he had seen. 

And it positioned him for a step of faith. 

Have I stopped truly marveling at the resurrection? 

Have I stopped allowing the power and awesomeness of what Jesus did for me impact me deeply, personally? 

Are we living so guarded that the power of the Resurrection no longer leaves us astonished and undone? 

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. 

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.

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. 

A step of faith that requires us to stop believing that whatever we are stuck in is all there is. 

A step of faith that asks us to trade death for life in every area- even that deepest, darkest place. 

Why?
Because Jesus went to the deepest, darkest place and won the victory in your stead and in mine. 

Peter's marveling positioned him for a step of transforming faith that turned him from ashamed denier to powerful declarer. 

God doesn't need us to marvel to stroke his ego.
He wants us to marvel to fuel our faith. 

He longs for us to move past the idle thought of the resurrection and move forward in the POWER of the resurrection! 

We have to let it impact us personally, deeply, emotionally, individually. 

Why?
Because it will position us to be transformed from ashamed deniers to powerful declarers.

Run to the tomb. 

Stoop and look inside.

See that Jesus is.not.there. 

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. 

That is where the life change happens. 

That is when the chains fall. 

That is when the walls crumble. 

That is when grace wins: when we refuse to be blinded by our mediocre meanderings and choose to MARVEL at the finished work of Jesus Christ. 

Marvel at the resurrection. 

Then, step out in a faith full of wonder and power like never before. 

#SimpleTruth for a marvelous life. 

And my soul shall ever be. 

"How marvelous! How wonderful! 

And my soul shall ever be. 

How marvelous! How wonderful!

Is my Savior's love for me." 

 -hymn, "I Stand Amazed" 

Falling into Faith

Sometimes it's just plain hard to believe this. For real. 

To trust that God not only has all the pieces but that He has the picture on the box. 

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. 

And that is enough. 

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 FEEL it. Part of our family mission statement declares "God is always at work to bring about His purposes." 

This...THIS is what I want to live and not just say. And leave a legacy as one who walked it out even when it was a stumbling, ugly hot mess. 

That's my prayer for you, too. Not as one who has arrived, but as one who is ONE the journey. 

#faithoverfear 

#SimpleTruth

Hello. Goodbye.

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."

 But this little sign has had more impact on me over the last 2 weeks than I could have ever imagined.

 I have realized that I have said "hello" to so many things in my life when I should have been saying goodbye. 

The enemy has fear knock at my door? 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.

 But why do I struggle so to trust turning my door knob when Jesus sends grace knocking? Comfort? Joy? Confidence? 

Hello. Hello to truth. That is what I need to say, not just in this season, but every season that life brings.

 It seems that a lot of things have been coming to my door lately asking for entrance. 

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. 

I never thought I'd use this phrase in a Simple Truth sharing moment, but this is what keeps coming to my mind: 

Bye, Felicia! 

Maybe I need to make that chalkboard too! 

Everyday, we choose- we choose our hellos and goodbyes and therefore open up the home of our hearts or close it off to a multitude of things. 

What are you saying hello to? What are you saying goodbye to? 

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.

 Bye, Felicia, indeed. 

Hello, Comfort and Joy. 

#SimpleTruth for every season. 

God is Not a Spectator

Some days are slippery and you need truth that is sticky...that holds on to you as you hold tight to it. Today,
as I was digging for this kind of grabby truth, the Holy Spirit led me to these words: 

“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.”

Deuteronomy 31:8

When God says He will NEVER do a thing, we sometimes glaze past what it truly means. 

He says He will NEVER forsake us. 

This means he will ALWAYS do the opposite of forsaking us: 

harbor, have, hold, keep, redeem, rescue, save, reclaim, adopt, advocate, cherish, defend, favor, maintain, protect, pursue, support, uphold, vindicate. 

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. 

For me, these words take the blinders off of my limited perspective of God's involvement and investment in every piece and part of my life. 

THIS is His PROMISE for you in the middle of your circumstance. 

That unknown in front of you? 

God has already been there. 

Done that. 

Prepped it for your arrival. 

And now He's walking straight into it WITH you, showing you every step, every leap, every sprint required for Victory. 

Fear is a liar and a power sucker. 

God is Truth and your Power Source. 

Don't be afraid- be amazed. 

Don't be discouraged- be encouraged. His promises will not fail. 

#SimpleTruth for your day. 

~Julie 

Somebody Hit the PAUSE Button

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?!" 

I have goals yet to write, lists yet to check off, intentions to unshelve! 

And so I get into a ridiculous panic and scurry to feel busy about something because busy means accomplished, right?? 

Wrong.

Step away from that busy button. 

Now is a great time to hit the PAUSE button. 

It's time to take time. 

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.

 

So WHY is it a good time to PAUSE? 

Because you still have the whole last half of this month to make the choices that will put you were you want to be! 

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 POWER in the PAUSE. 

And when you add PRAYER? It's a triple threat!!

PAUSE+PRAYER=POWER! 

These are the 3 P's that will take you places. 

But instead of running ahead distracted, disgruntled, disheartened, deafened by the realities around you...

1. Pause to open your eyes to see where you are and what you are doing in that place.

2. Pray for the Lord to show you HIS desire for those things, those goals you're running after...and LISTEN to His response.

3. Power up! in His presence and find the strength to make the choices that you weren't able to on your own.

I am praying for each of you!

Hit that PAUSE button today!!

"Be still and know that I am God..."

Psalm 46:10