Purposeful Faith

Seeing Through Eyes of Faith

I sat on my friend’s floor, coiling a long telephone cord around my stubby index finger.

A high school boy had not called her back after she had tried calling him multiple times. I was interested to see how another person, rejected like me, would handle things. It felt good, in that moment to know that I was not alone. She was hurting too now. Misery loves company.

But, she didn’t indulge me how I wanted…her response threw me off. Rather than saying, like I would, “There must be something wrong with me,” she said, “Oh, he’s probably busy and will call me later.”

That surprised me. It wasn’t all her fault.

She didn’t believe the worst about herself…
She didn’t blame herself…
She didn’t think she was flawed…

Instead, she gave the guy the benefit of the doubt. She hoped the best and believed the best for him and herself.

And because of that, she side-stepped all the self-blame, self-hatred, and burdening personalization that I so shamefully and easily walked in.

How was it so easy for her to escape all that?

As she saw it, there was nothing wrong with her, but for me? It was all — ALL my fault.

I wonder if any of you are like me? How often do we personalize what likely has nothing to do with us, thereby heaping pain and self-blame on ourselves?

How often do we decide our kids’ walk is our fault? Our marriage is our fault? Our situation is our fault? People’s responses are our fault?

“Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening].” (1 Cor 13:7)

We are to love ourselves. Do you doubt that?

God tells us to “love others as we love ourselves”, therefore, we are to:

1. Believe the best about ourselves
2. Hope there is a good future for ourselves
3. Endure up under ourselves with belief even in the face of our flaws.

“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” (Heb. 11:1)

Faith is all about what we hope for.

If we have no hope, we have no faith. If we have no faith, we turn off the faucet flow of the greater things God can and will do for us.

My friend had hope; I had none.

It’s no wonder I got an eating disorder and was ready to die. Without hope, all life dies. Faith can generate nothing new and life-giving.

But, in us, my friends, we have Jesus, the hope of glory! Which means there is always hope! There is always resurrection life power. There is always a new way!

A weekend ago, I spoke at a church, where Jesus came with radical power to heal people of sickness, mental illness, and pain. I have never seen anything like it. The women’s faith believed in the hand of a Saving God! And He came!

If He did it for them, He will do it for you! Have faith that what God has for others could also be for the likes of you, too!

Prayer: Father, you are great. You are mighty. You are able. You are maker. You have good things in store for those who love you. I cast off me for the receiving of you. I let go of what I am not, for the faith that you are bigger than me and my mistakes. I trust you. Life is not about me, but it is for the glory of you! So, today I lean on you and trust in you! You make all things new. You have things in store for me. You have good for me. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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Receive Peace for Today

keep going

We’ve probably all witnessed this sort of person… They walk around the house, saying, “Now, where did I put those glasses of mine?”

Little do they know, the glasses they search for are on their head.

I’m the same way sometimes, I search all over the house saying, “Now, where did I put that cell phone?” Aggravation mounts as I go. I flip covers over. I dig into cabinets. I huff and puff.

Fifteen minutes later, I find my phone in my back pocket. What I was searching for, I had all along.

Many of us, in these days, as love runs colder and colder and as offense explodes stronger and stronger — may feel troubled. Troubled by how people are treating us, agitated by what is happening around us, disturbed by problems mounting on us, intimidated by an enemy that won’t stop coming at us, and afraid of all that might happen to us.

This leaves us asking, “What has happened to our peace? Where has it gone?”

Yet, what if what we thought we lost, we’ve had all along?

Jesus said…
“Peace I leave with you; My [own] peace I now give and bequeath to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. [Stop allowing yourselves to be agitated and disturbed; and do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and cowardly and unsettled.]” (Jo. 14:27 AMPC)

Friends, just like glasses on our head or a phone already in our back pocket…Jesus has already left us peace. It is ours. We own it. We have it. We walk in it. We talk in it. It is in us.

So, what gives?

Dear ones, it is not happenings that separate us from peace; it is our belief that happenings separate us from it. Which will we believe — that Jesus has given us peace that we can keep, or that everyone and everything has power to take it away?

When we see ourselves as immovable in His peace and love we will not be moved. Say not today, “where has my peace gone?”, but instead say, “Thank you Father, that Jesus has given me peace. I receive it and will walk in it today, by His grace.”

Then, when problems come, wholly lean on the Prince of Peace, through prayer, to guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus. Believe that His peace is coming to you!

Without faith it is impossible to please God. (Heb 11:6)

Prayer: Father God, I ask that you increase my understanding and conception of the Peace of God within me. I thank you for this peace Jesus has given me. I am anxious for nothing. Instead, I pray to you and thank you for the peace of God that transcends all understanding. May it guard my heart and mind in Christ Jesus as I receive it. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

 


Hope for Your Day

keep going

Don’t lose hope in the Lord.

Think of the woman at the well. She had no reason to hope and every reason to feel hopeless. She trudged in the heat of the day to that well. Just doing her day’s duties. Just trying to make it by. She knew she was a woman, and a Samaritan at that. It didn’t help that she had so many husbands. She was unacceptable. Unwanted by people. An outcast. No reason to hope.

Little did she know, though — one was coming for her.

Scripture says, “But He (Jesus) needed to go through Samaria.” (Jo. 4:4) Another translation says, “it was necessary.”

Why was it necessary?

Because He wanted to encounter her.
Because He wanted to change her situation.
Because He was ready to set her free.
Because He saw what she was going through.
Because He had a plan for her.

Friends, Jesus pursued her when she felt like the least of these. She didn’t call out. She didn’t read two chapters of the Bible. Perhaps, she had told God her heart and problems. And, guess who showed up on the scene? Jesus.

Today’s post is short, but the point is vital: Don’t lose hope! No matter what you are going through, Jesus is coming. In fact, He is already there, right with you.

If it’s hard, then turn toward Him and receive His heart for you. He cares! There is ample grace for you right now. Keep believing!

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 2:4-7

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Grounds for Love

we all want

I could not get the coffee grounds in the trash! The way my husband tightly packed the grounds into the tight quarters of the machine made removing them impossible. Ugh.

I asked him to pack the coffee into the machine lighter, so it would all fall easier into the trash, but…we all know how it is…life gets busy, mornings get going and coffee is not a huge deal in the grand scheme of life. So, those grounds continually were packed super tight, making it an impossible annoyance to throw away on a daily basis.

Grr…

And, while coffee is most certainly a first-world problem, don’t we all know? It’s often the small things that create big annoyances that have power to topple many dominoes over in our day.

Ever been there? One thing sets you off to be annoyed, then you react to another, which makes something else happen — and you find yourself somewhere emotionally that you don’t want to be?

I needed wisdom on how to handle this. God’s wisdom.

“But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.” (James 3:17)

The wisdom I got? I decided to empty out my grounds each time. So, instead of leaving my grounds in the coffee machine for him to empty, I emptied my grounds. And, guess what happened? I set a precedent. In turn, he emptied his grounds.

I didn’t have to say a word.
I didn’t have to nag.
I didn’t have to tell him what to do.
I didn’t have to get angry inside anymore.

I just set an example in love and he responded in same.

I am writing this post today, because I got the feeling that some of us are fighting battles in words, when God is calling us to show love through our deeds. Some are angry at others for what they are not doing, when God may be calling us to do something new. Many are fighting battles God did not call us to fight, when He wants to bring our justice. Others are using anger as a weapon, yet anger never leads one to righteousness (see: James 1:20). A group is waiting for them to change, while every day banging their head against the same wall.

Here, I ask: What is the Lord calling you to do? What is wisdom saying about how to handle this problem? What is understanding leading you to do through a sincere heart and love?

There may be another solution to your hard problem.

While this coffee story is so simple, it is emblematic of our greater issues that lay at hand. There is no greater testimony than a living one, one done through a heart of service and love.

“Love never fails.” (1 Cor. 13:8) Love is the highest wisdom and understanding we can ever have. Let’s use it and see it work.

What is love calling you to do?

Father God, I thank you that our highest calling is to love. Show us how to love and what it looks like in our hard problems. Lead us in your love. Empower us not to be offended, agitated or angry. Make us into living testimonies that shine your glory and grace far and wide. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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Adventuring with God!

The boat turned off course. What was going on!? Two minutes ago, we were cruising down a clear water channel, one where I could see for what seemed to be miles. Now, out of nowhere, my boat was crashing into some reeds. Tall ones, I might add. We couldn’t even see beyond the boat’s bow.

Would we be okay? Would we hit land?

Ironically, I didn’t think either of those thoughts. What I thought was, “Wow! This is exhilarating!”

I loved…
the wind flying my hair a mile a minute…
the horsepower of the boat propelling us beyond ordinary…
the brute speed turning charted lands into uncharted ones.

Now I was getting somewhere! Now I was really living!

We were pioneering new lands! We were going where man had not gone before.

Something in me came alive. Why? I am not meant to live an ordinary life, but an extraordinary one, in Christ Jesus.

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

What if I lived like I actually believed that? Believing every calling and purpose of God for my life was possible? That God really would give me every bit of providence, sustenance and horsepower I needed to do His will? That the beaten track, the boring, ordinary and commonplace, could be ditched, in order to move out on a thrill ride — His new course, as I follow Jesus, just like the disciples?

Is Jesus calling you? Is there a new attitude, new land, new friend, or new role that you feel nudged to move into? Is there more abundant giving, more adventurous international going or new ways of relating that He is beckoning you into?

Ditch the ordinary and find His extraordinary! Don’t let complacency or convenience connive you into boring living! There is nothing worse than living Groundhog Day on repeat; it makes a soul lose luster.

Friend, get going — in following Him.

Jesus is calling. You can do this. He will help you. All things are possible with God.

You don’t need to know the way — for HE DOES!

The thrill of the ride, the joy of your heart and the land of promise — is only found as you adventure with God. Grab His hand and walk with Jesus!

Prayer: Father, thank you that you are in control. As we let go, you take hold. As we cast our cares on the Lord, you handle them. Please give us bravery, boldness and strength to follow Jesus. Please give us your empowerment from Heaven to do all you have for us to do in this life. We want to obey and follow you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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Avoiding a Hard Heart

Friends, let me start by saying…I DO NOT have it all together.

I got this message loud and clear when, two days ago, I pulled a steel crab pot out of the Chesapeake Bay waters. My catch of two weeks’ worth of crabs made my pot heavy. I knew if I used all my weight and if I leaned back hard, I could leverage the steel pot up, hopefully without launching myself over the dock. So, I did just that.

Victory.

Exasperated, I leaned back for a second and stared at the fruit of my labor on that weather-worn dock. What did I see? It suddenly occurred to me: Hard-shelled, violent creatures fighting one another, claws out…

They were relentlessly aiming to eat each other alive.

Upon reflection, I wondered — is this me? Have I become hard-shelled?

“God, I know what I am doing. I have this handled.”
“God, you should have come through like this.”
“God, I shouldn’t be here.”

Or, hard-shelled with family members?

“I must defend myself.”
“I’m right.”
“I can’t receive what they’re saying, because their motives are off and this threatens who I am.”

I can’t help but think that my hard shell blocks out not only people, but also the voice of God. Who can hear with mufflers on. Hard shells muffle God-sent voices.

Hard shells also make fighters out of people. Everyone is a threat. Protection creates isolation in that person’s life.

I want none of it.

Today, I soften down. I haven’t come to be right in this world, I have come to be soft, to be real, to love others no matter what it may make exposed and vulnerable within me.

What about you? Where might you need to soften? Where might you need to ditch the cover so God’s voice can penetrate your heart?

Prayer: Father God, I thank you that you are my Protector, Provider and Keeper. I ask for grace and power to trust you more. I ask for help believing you when I feel afraid. You are my God. You are my Lord. You are my Protector. You are a stronghold and a fortress.  Let me lean on you when the going gets tough. Equip me for this, even right now, Father. In Jesus’ name.

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Admitting What is Hard to Admit

we all want

Hey friends — I was on the 700 Club this week talking about Take Every Thought Captive! I hope the segment blesses you. Watch here.

BLOG POST:

I knew I was wrong. But, changing course and admitting wrongdoing, I knew, would hurt too much to do. Why? During the whole course of the discussion, I defended my position adamantly. I was so sure. I made myself out to be a saint with all the right answers…but now? Now that I was beginning to see the light of my error? Grr…

It’s embarrassing to feel caught and exposed. Like a wild animal caught in a cage, flashlight probing its eyes, all one can do is stand there, not sure of where to go. Like this animal, I paced around in my mind, considering what to do. Will this person still think good things about me? Will they berate me after I admit: I was wrong? Will my opinion still be valued going forward? Will I have to radically change — and, can I even make this change?

Sometimes, it’s easier to deny wrongdoing than to admit it. Sometimes, it is easier to keep pride than to give away ego. Sometimes, it is easier to maintain your sense of self than to die to the flesh.

I think Nicodemus, when talking to Jesus, may have understood these feelings.

“Now there was a certain man among the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler (a leader, an authority) among the Jews, Who came to Jesus at night and said to Him, Rabbi, we know and are certain that You have come from God [as] a Teacher; for no one can do these signs (these wonderworks, these miracles—and produce the proofs) that You do unless God is with him.” (John 3:1-2 AMPC, emphasis added)

Nicodemus said, “We know…you have come from God.”

This means, there was more than one Pharisee or religious leader who knew the truth about Jesus — but, they were not saying anything!

If the Pharisees “knew” why keep it a secret? Why not come out and say, “This man, Jesus, is from God?” Why not announce, “Only one from God can do the works this man does!?” Why not tell all, “Certainly, God is with this man”?

There is only one reason, much like the reason I had for not speaking up — pride.

Pride that thinks:
If we are wrong about this man, what will the people think about us?
If He is from God, what will we mattter anymore?
If all know that God is with Him, how will we have to change?
If He is more than us, what will happen to us?
Pride kept the Pharisees from fully receiving Jesus.

That’s what pride does. It keeps us from admitting, receiving and confessing truth, even when we blatantly know it is true. Pride makes us preserve our flesh rather than die to it. I wonder, how often has pride caused you to deny, rationalize or to hide away because you don’t want to get hurt?

Friends, I know pride. I know what it is to want to stay safe. I, probably like you, have been hurt in the past. Yet, I know this — when we are honest, we free ourselves. We free ourselves from shame, from fear, and from circular mental traps. Remember, it is only the truth that will set us free.
The Pharisees full-out denied Jesus out of pride. It is easy to point the finger at them, but how often do we do the same thing?

What truth, may you need to admit, in that hard moment, even though it feels like it may kill you?

“He must increase, but I must decrease.” (Jo. 3:30)

Prayer: Father, forgive me of my pride. Give me the power to decrease so that you may increase. Just as Jesus died to Himself, help me. Just as Jesus laid down defenses, help me. Just as Jesus humbled himself, may I do the same. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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The Devil’s Primary Tactic

Blog Post title: The Devil’s Primary Tactic

Picture Adam and Eve…enjoying the love, the connectedness, the intimacy, the Voice and the beauty of God in the garden. What could have been better? The aroma of floral scents visiting them… The cool breeze of His love whisking over them… The sound of freedom regularly affirming who they were with Him… The wonder of His fruit at the ready. The fabulous connectedness of healthy family…

And then, the fall…
when they messed up…
and everything changed because it was all their fault…
and they saw what they did…
and hated their nakedness and ickiness…
and experienced a heavy weight of shame…
and tried to fix everything with their own hands…
to make everything better…
fashioning some fig leaves to cover over their mistake…
by protecting themselves…
by taking things into their own hands…
by hiding out from the One who would know how bad they were…
to stay out of His sight…
because He must be mad…
and because they knew they were bad, bad icky kiddies.

Shame is a primary tactic in the devil’s game. The confusion that comes in from sin tricks us. Then, it isolates us, driving us away from God, making us hate ourselves.

I can only write about this because I know about all this. Friends, I hate shame. I hate it!!!! It works like this: We mess up with a family member and then want to run away from them. We act how we don’t want to and then suppose God is angry at us. We remember that old sin we did long ago and think it is still making God angry at us. We remind ourselves how far from God we’ve been lately and determine the road is hard to get back to Him. We are angry at ourselves for how we acted and then want to punish ourselves to get better. We call ourselves names because we hate the sin we see. We judge our performance and try to make up ways to do better. We think we are not good enough, or we are too much and then judge ourselves.

What does shame look like in your life?

The devil uses shame to drive us away from His Name, The Name Above All Names. The devil insists we need to take things into our own hands because God will not be there for us anymore…

Yet, scripture tells us another story:

“Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.

But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News. The Good News has been preached all over the world, and I, Paul, have been appointed as God’s servant to proclaim it.” (Col. 1:22-23)

Friends, the only way to beat the devil at his own game is to believe in the power of His Name, Jesus! Jesus has transferred us from the kingdom of darkness to the Kingdom of light. We are not striving to be in His love — we are already in it! Nothing can separate us from His love!

Now, it is so easy to repent of sin. We cast off what was and, immediately, move back into what is: we are holy, blameless, we stand before Him without a single fault.

Friends, nothing — no sin, no mess up, no mistake, no person — can separate us from His love!

Prayer: Father, thank you that we are not in shame anymore because we are in your love. Thank you for your son Jesus who saved us and is continually saving us. We are forever grateful. Help us to live by our new nature and not to revert back to our old nature. May we not return again to a yoke of slavery. We are loved, accepted, wanted, holy and blameless. We praise your name for all these things. We boldly come into your presence for all the grace and mercy we so desperately need. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

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When Fear Grips You…

The 2-year old little girl and her mother weren’t even a half-a-foot deep yet, but the mom was steadily trying to guide the little girl into the water. The girl would have none of it.

She was yelling her head off and crying.
It’s scary!!!
I don’t want to!
I’m afraid of what will happen!
Will I be okay?
Will I make it?

Many of us are like this little girl. We aren’t even a foot deep into a horrible situation and we’re sure we are dying! The worst shark is about to come and rip off our legs. The rip current will pull us out into the tides. We don’t know what is in that water…

I can’t!
I won’t!
What if?!

This little girl, toe in the water, gripped her mother and screamed.

The mother, like a lifeguard, held her. And, then I heard her speak words of comfort, “You are safe, I am right here.”

I didn’t look long enough to see if the girl calmed down, but I did stop to think about her calming words, because isn’t this how God speaks to us?

“You are safe,” “You will be okay”, “I am right here.”

When we know He is near, fear disappears. God has this. God is bigger than what I face. Earthly circumstances don’t move me because God owns the Earth.

This doesn’t mean we won’t walk through tough stuff, but knowing who we are walking with changes everything.

The Savior.
The Healer.
The Provider.
The Restorer.
The Resurrection Life Power.
The Giver.
The Hope of Glory.
He is with us.

“I have set the Lord continually before me; because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.” (Ps. 16:8)

We can be a child in the arms of our BIG daddy-God. He is near when we fear. He is a help in a time of trouble. He knows what is in the waters He is leading us through. He is famous for parting Red Seas. He is notorious for making fish show up out of nowhere. He is remembered for walking on water.

What can our God not do, when we trust Him? When we know that He is close? When we remember how much He cares?

Prayer: Father God, you are amazing. You want me. You care for me. You chose me. You still want me. Help me to trust that you are near to me. Help me to not be shaken and to walk with you, through all things. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

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My “Oh-Crud” Moment…

good father

Oh crud.

Like me, have you ever had an “oh-crud moment” when you knew what you were supposed to do, but you didn’t do it?

It can happen when you know you should respond lovingly, but you still go for the low blow with your words.

It can happen when you sense Holy Spirit saying not to look at a social media thread, but there you go anyway.

It can happen when you’re sure that God wants you to share Jesus with people, and then you just don’t.

It can happen when you feel called in a certain direction and then just trash that prompting.

My “oh-crud moment” didn’t just happen blatantly; it happened casually…

You see, my son kept coming in my room before his bedtime. Beforehand, my husband and I had made it EXPLICITLY clear that, before bed, we didn’t want him to keep coming in our room and asking us questions, because we needed time to wind-down.

Yet, there he was — jumping on our bed.

“Son,” I said. “Please go to your room and I will be there shortly to say goodnight.”

He kept jumping.

“Son, please listen and head to your room to read a book.”

He, like a slow turtle, made a move towards the edge of the bed.

“Son, we love you very much, but we also don’t want to ask again!”

We had asked 3 times. And…that’s when it hit me — Oh my goodness, delayed obedience is straight-up disobedience.

Just as I shouldn’t have to ask my son more than once, God shouldn’t have to ask me more than once. If I find it horribly disrespectful and dishonoring to have to ask my son repeatedly, how much more does God feel about my abandoning His leading and disobeying his prompting?

Oh crud.

“Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.” (Ja. 4:17)

Conviction fell on me. My Lord shouldn’t have to ask, me, His servant, more than once.

I am sorry, Father.

After apologizing to God, there was still a bugging, pressing question annoying me. It was this: Can I really change? Can I really start listening and stop disobeying?

Friends, I have done a lot of — not listening. I want to honor God, but for some reason I am afraid I won’t obey when he wants me to.

I think Paul understood, ” I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.” (Romans 7:15-17)

And here is where Paul gives us powerful wisdom. If I am hyper focused on my sin-nature, all I will see is the nature of my sin. But, if I am walking in the abundant and equipping nature of His grace, I will be empowered by it.

God has all we need to help us go right, do right and love right, by the power of His might.

All we need to do is to ask for His help and to be willing to go a new way.

Prayer: Father, I want your help to obey. Franky, I need your help to obey. I want to honor you in everything I do. I pray that any spirit of fear that keeps me from following you, be bound. I pray that any pride that preserves my flesh, be brought low. I pray that any part of me that doubts myself, would be healed. I ask for all the grace I need to honor you in word, in thought, and in deed, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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