Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Heb. 11:1
It is all about simple. Not getting duped by the complex theories, herculean hypotheses and advanced equations of genius conjectures.
It is all about simple. Not joining the madness of consumerism and collectivism.
It is all about simple. Not looking left or right or up or down, trembling, then constructing your own bomb shelter of safety.
It is all about simple. Not getting involved in the wars of deep-seated theology that are bound to leave relational battle-wounds, simply, unrepairable.
It is all about simple. Not counting the pennies of another, while staring at your possibly empty piggy bank.
Simple.
The more simple our faith, the more abundant our life.
The more simple our reliance, the more wisdom we accrue.
For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. (1 Cor. 1:25)
“Simple” is eyes that trust the unseen.
Not seeing the world as its driving force.
But God, as he pushes us, in safe protection, to his known.
It is keeping simple in the face of other’s complex. Jesus in the forefront of rushing minds.
Following his lead,
the one who is the pure – the untainted apple of truth.
Not biting into fake, fraudulent or bound to fry,
but staying attuned to the basics, the reality, the hope,
despite the grey nuances presented by talking heads.
Despite the exotic languages that come in ones mind – only sent to confuse.
It is where mission bubbles up, and it is hope that actually – fosters hope.
And strength that has the strength to endure – it endures the fire.
And life that actually brings more life – it creates it. All join hands to light a spark to boldness,
so one can walk through the fire and come alive on the other side,
believing that will happen is they will emerge refined, shining, glowing,
a pure byproduct of him who is pure.
Themselves, yet all the same one who they always wanted to be.
And this is all that matters. That we follow him. That we listen to his voice. We hear his Word. We love. We listen. We do as he did.
The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. Gal. 5:6
Simple faith.
Simple faith leads to simple love. Simple love is simply what this thing called faith is all about.
Jesus never cared much for the deep insight of man, but he cared far greater that, of him, we are his biggest fan.
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We are all gathered around the table. I can’t keep my eyes off the pumpkin pie, the mashed potatoes, and the creamed corn. I want to devour it all. My mouth is watering.
But, as I smile, as I look, as I sit, deafening sounds quickly pull me out of my delightful daydream, and throw me back into reality. A storm is brewing. Someone is annoyed – again. Agitated -yet again. Frustrated – just like last year.
Who knows what irritated them! It could be one of many things – drinks weren’t served fast enough, a rude piercing reply was launched or a digging question was fired over the table. The “why” is not of as much concern as “how” this sinks my holiday south.
Joy stolen.
Agitation mounting.
Disappointment abounding.
Why can’t we give thanks in peace?
Why can’t we all get along?
Why does it feel that we have to endure holiday rather than enjoy it?
This is should be a time of thankfulness – of gladness – not a time of madness.
Thanksgiving and Christmas are days we expect to be perfect gems of sparkle, joy and peace. Somehow, we think, because we control the preparations, the decorations and conversations, everyone should meet our expectations. But, when they don’t, we tend to get bloated with disappointment.
Yet, God calls us to enjoy this day, rather than endure it. He calls us to leave perfect in the kitchen to embrace imperfect at the table, so we don’t end up hiding in the bathroom with tears.
5 Tips to Survive Holiday Chaos:
1. Seek to embrace verses erase the person in need.
Jesus ran to the people in need. His heart was inclined to those in pain. He didn’t demand, but gave his best.
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)
Sit under the shade of the cross. Then you will find compassion for the meaningless jabs, frustrating arguments and aggravating words. Heck, you might even see you are just as sinful as they.
2. Be truly thankful – for both the yummy and the yucky of life.
I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. (Phil. 4:12)
True thankfulness takes abundance and scarcity, trials and triumphs, jerks and joy – and gives thanks no matter. Why? Because all are from the Lord. All have a purpose. All are meant to refine.
3. A storm may brew, but without a doubt, God will bring you through.
For I am the LORD your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you. (Is. 41:13)
It’s ok to feel weak, but unnecessary to feel ruined because God stands ready to help. Call out to God. He waits to run to your rescue.
4. Know you stand secure, no matter what others do.
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers. neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Ro. 8:38-39).
People can do what they are going to do. But, none of this impacts our standing with Christ. We are in Him. We are secure. We are loved. We are a new creation. If we stand in Christ, we can’t stand outside of him.
5. Find a heart of thanks for the burnt food.
True gratefulness is not just being thankful for all the delicious pickings, but also for the burnt food. If we have food – or family to complain about – we are already blessed. We are blessed with the perfect, but also with the imperfect. Why? Because through the imperfect, we see our need for a Savior. Through our failings, our trials and our frustrations, we find hope in One who is greater than these things.
God makes imperfect burnt food taste delicious when we see it for what it is – an undeserved gift.
That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Cor. 12:10)
Bonus Tip (consider it your second helping): Realize it is impossible to control others.
We can’t control things. We can only control ourself. And, no one can take our spirit of thanks away, without us allowing them to do it. No one can steal our heart – unless we allow them to.
When we stop looking for everyone to be perfect, we can start enjoying them for who they truly are.
When our standards aren’t higher than the twinkle-lighted roof, we can see people’s hearts, history and pains.
And, we sometimes, can even empathize and minister to them.
So, this holiday season, let’s celebrate and see all that we have – burnt food and pickings. People will always disappoint – and we will disappoint people. No one is perfect – except One. But, the ultimate truth is that God’s grace never ends. It nourishes us when the spread leaves us hungry for more love.
Let’s lay this truth on the table so we can pass, dish and eat up all the goodness of grace – in our own hearts and towards the hearts of others.
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Do you miss it?
It is right before your eyes.
Waiting for your astonishment…
It is God showing off.
If you are head down in iPhone…you won’t see it.
If you are worrying your pants off about what is to come…you won’t see it.
If you are yelling to that person next to you in traffic…you won’t see it.
If you are looking at what everyone else is wearing…you won’t see it.
If you are more concerned with your ways than his…you won’t see it.
Not because he doesn’t care for you, because he absolutely does.
Not because you aren’t his loved son or daughter, which you hopefully are.
Not because he is angry at you, because he is not, he just waiting for you to run back to him in repentance.
You won’t see, because you don’t allow yourself to see.
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jer. 29:13
Eyes that are looking for God, find him. Eyes that are distracted, miss him.
Last night, my son ran into my room with a mid-night dream he wanted to share. I hushed him up and pushed him back to his bed, deathly afraid I would turn into a walking-zombie mother the next day from lack of sleep. Success! He returned to bed.
Until, he came back. He woke me again, but this time I hugged him. I loved on him as Christ might. I enjoyed the quietness of the moment. Then, I looked out the window…and saw it. Bright as day, as close as the breath of my own child, as bold as a phone call in the middle of the night – it stood. It was the moon, except for one thing…this moon’s rays shined only two ways – horizontal above the earth, and vertical – ground to heaven.
This moon was emitting rays in the shape – of a cross. A cross that owned the world.
(This picture does the cross no justice, because its rays extended far and wide, long and distanced, crisp and sword-like, prominent and powerful. They went straight down to the ground and straight up to the sky…it was gigantic and breathtaking.)
This moon declared Jesus’ victory over the plains of the fearful and the plans of evil.
It proclaimed the earth as belonging to God.
It blazed like a victory flag over our mayhem-ridden land.
It shined eternal sovereignty, which will never, ever, fade.
It confirmed it can’t beat the the sacrifice that will always endure.
It magnified Jesus’ ability and desire to cleanse the world of all pain, agony and hatred.
But, what if I had missed it?
What if instead of stopping to let my eyes adjust to the light of God outside,
I let sleep lure me inside?
Awaken! God is all around, but when our eyes look down, we miss the exact places where he is found.
Let all the earth fear the LORD; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. Ps. 33:8
If we stop in the middle of rush, we will see – that it is us that God wants to touch.
If we look for wonder, we will find ourself wondering how we have such a great God.
If we pray to see, God will open our eyes up wider than they are after our third drink of coffee.
God waits to awe our socks off!
Nature testifies to the natural goodness of God. It is the present testament declaring both testaments of our living King. It confirms his majesty, administration and intentions.
For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities–his eternal power and divine nature–have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. Ro. 1:20
If you only see the white noise hum of “bore” before you – you’ll miss the “tremendously more” that God has – for you.
Worship the LORD with reverence and rejoice with trembling. Ps. 2:11
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What would happen if I packed up, crammed all my stuff into a moving van and found a new home – God’s dwelling? Might God whisper “The burden is off, my child”?
If I truly said:
God, you own these kids, so I release myself from the burden of mismanagement. God, these goods are under your roof, so if you don’t like them – for me, you can remove them. God, when things break down in our house, you care – it is your house too. God, you’re in the very center of the air in this marriage. You are in our midst in this house. God, this home doesn’t actually belong to me, it belongs to you. God, these plans I make are under your owned roof, help me come to you first, before I steamroll ahead. God, you care about the mother and father who walk these rooms, their feelings and thoughts you oversee.
Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” Ps. 91:1-2
If I put everything I own under his roof, his bullet-proof roof will wrap me with protection.
Cooking, caring, helping, guiding, serving, homeworking, loving, speaking, thinking and teaching will no longer rest on me, but it will reside under him. Every time I look up, the ceiling will remind me of whose shelter I am under. Every time I feel pressed against a wall, it will remind me I am not trapped, but wrapped with his love. Every time I feel it is too much, I will remind myself that God is much more in this place then I could ever be. Every time, I fear the dark, I will remind myself that he keeps me in his shadow, because he wants me close, not far so he can hurt me.
He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. Ps. 91:4
Covered.
Gliding.
Moving.
Progressing.
Understood.
Safe.
Sound.
Armed.
Alarm set.
Tucked in tight.
Into the arms of the father.
Within our own home, which is his.
If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,” and you make the Most High your dwelling, no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent. Ps. 91: 9-13
As God rules a refuge, he protects it. As if he places an invisible bubble of armored protection around it, harm hits it hard and falls, disaster is diverted, angels are concerned, my foot is not stubbed, the opposition walks scared and I walk defeating them.
The burden is off of me – and onto God.
Lord, God, come into my home and make your home. Everything belongs to you. I belong to you. My children belong to you. My goods belong to you. My heart belongs to you. My faith belongs to you. My life belongs to you. Rule in your shelter as I live under it. Help me stay in your ways and within your heart, never to depart. Amen.
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I don’t know about you, but if someone was to ask me, I would say, “Yes, I want more of God.”
In fact, I would probably even go on to tell them, “I want God’s everything. I want to be so close to him. I want to draw near.”
And this is the truth. But, in a way, it is also a lie. Because I notice I play other tricks with God – tricks where I motion one hand, saying, “Come close”, all the while holding one arm out saying, “Stay back.”
It’s like my inside is at war with my outside, which truly I guess it is – and this is the point.
For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. Gal. 5:17
Do you call for God to come near, all the while fearing that he may?
When we step back to see the war for what it really is, we see it. This tug of war is truly our greatest fight, our ultimate conflict and the most important war of our lives.
Will we fight to win or lay back and prepare to lose?
5 Ways We Get in a Tug-of-War Against God
1. The Spirit tugs: stay close to God.
The flesh tugs: you can’t trust him.
Come near to God and he will come near to you. Ja. 4:8
2. The Spirit tugs: Believe He can heal, help and harness what is coming against you.
The flesh tugs: God wouldn’t do something that amazing for me.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us. . . Eph. 3:20
3. The Spirit tugs: Open your real heart, so God can do real work in you.
The flesh tugs: Run from vulnerability, God will hate you.
I think of God, and I moan, overwhelmed with longing for his help. Ps. 77:3
4. The Spirit tugs: Listen to my small voice – and obey – and you will find your way.
The flesh tugs: That is too hard, too inconvenient and too uncomfortable.
He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” Lu. 11:28
5. The Spirit tugs: God’s change is the beginning of your hope.
The flesh tugs: Run from change, it will change everything good about your life.
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. 1 Jo. 4:18
When we let God in, he changes everything within.
When we lay down walls, he plows through with a mission of love. When we break what keeps us stuck, we trample over the past with a vengeance. When we let him in – to see through his eyes – we start to see compassion and faith anew. When we unarm, he arms us in indwelling truth. When we seek his face, we are staggered by it. When we come undone, he undoes the pain we have walked in for so long. When we let him plow the fields of ruin, we find new buds of life forming. When we back into his loving arms, we crash into hope – straight up hope. When we realize we can’t do it without him, we start to see that we can do it. When we bare the ugly, he makes it beautiful.
When we live intimate with God, we start to imitate God.
From the ends of the earth, I cry to you for help when my heart is overwhelmed. Psalm 61:2
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It’s what we would rather run from than run straight into.
It’s what makes us speak accusations
instead of affirmations.
It’s what drives us bat crazy,
feeling like we are chasing a shifting shadows of ever changing goals and needs.
It’s what sends us to mindsets of sin rather than pastures of holiness.
It is called conflict.
It is that thing that we don’t know why, we as Christians have to deal with – yet, we do. Somehow and sometimes, we just hit it. And as ugly as it is, we often stand, right in the midst of it, wondering how something so icky, so yucky and so unsavory, could exist in one who is trying to pursue God so wholly?
How a God seeker could turn into more of a raging lunatic than a calming saint?
How this very growth of mold could threaten to swallow God’s very light shining on it?
But, yet, if we stop and think, sometimes our heart actually lands at the truth, doesn’t it?
God’s light is still shining – even when our heart isn’t.
There is no amount of disgrace, shame and darkness that can remove the ray of light shining on you. Like the rays that follow your tin can of transport, so does God go. Like the light that reflect off the tiny pieces of dirt on the side of the road, so does God go. Like the moon that shines even in the darkness, so does God go. You can’t stop the places his light shine.
God’s light shines hope into every endless pit of death and decay –
it can’t help but make things grow.
The glow of repair is always available – and the glow is a He and he waits for our call, so that he can run to our rescue, operating tools and all, to reshape us into glory, faster than one can mutter “Thank you.”
God didn’t save his glow for the perfect, he shines it on the sinners.
The only hindrance for us receiving it, is us believing dirty rotten scoundrels can really handle it without ruining everything.
It is moving in, rather than running away.
It is waiting, rather than hiding.
It is believing grace rather than fear.
It is relaxing into his work, rather than resisting it.
Conflict is the great body shop of God’s repair,
for it is here that he points out the greatest defects of our hearts.
The amazing part is – when those who are defected,
continually run to him who is resurrected,
we can’t help but find ourselves more and more perfected.
So, be not discouraged, he is helping us.
Be not dismayed, he is with us in the heat of the moment, despite the coldness of our heart.
Be not disgraced, he calls us to see, not our bad moves, but his great ones.
Be not downright angry, he leads us to listen, so then we can understand.
Be not debased, he calls us to set our ways down, so we can come alive to his.
Be not defeated, he calls us to victory in Christ, so then we may be free.
Be not dejected, he calls us to new ways of thinking, so we don’t live furious.
Be not defamed, you are always loved in his eyes.
Be not defensive, his correction spoken might be your ticket to fullness.
Be not down and out, you are permanently Christ’s new creation.
Be not disqualified, nothing can remove you from the hand of God.
Be not denied, Christ already died to fully accept you.
The key is to pray so we don’t fall prey, but so we find God’s way. His way is the greatest cease and desist order to the devil and the most potent concoction of peace there is.
Suddenly, what we find is – it’s not so much about winning, but much more about letting Christ win our hearts over in love – so everything flows according to HIS plan.
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Col. 3:12
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Last week, I said I wouldn’t look…I made a pledge, a promise and an oath that I was going to breakaway from a specific sin – and move to breakthrough. Remember? I made a commitment to each of you. I said, I wasn’t going to look at my blog numbers. I said, I would avoid them, so as not to set my heart on them. That is all fine and dandy, except for one thing – I didn’t.
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. Ro. 7:15
Because I hate what I do, I tend to:
1. Blame – “Every time I opened my page to post the numbers were right there on the right hand side and I couldn’t help but take a gander.” 2. Excuse – “It’s no big deal I looked, more than once.” 3. Deny – “Friends, I have been doing great. No issues over here.” 4. Give up – “Ahh..oh well God, guess this one isn’t going to work.” 5. Get guilty – “I can’t believe I couldn’t follow through on this one small thing.”
And yes, absolutely, my friends, there is a grace for a poor soul like me, for a woman who falls down far more often than she stands up. Thank you Jesus for that! But we don’t just chalk up an image of amazing grace and turn our backs, we chalk repentance on the dashboard of our will so we don’t slam into that dang dashboard yet again, bruising and battering our face.
Where do you find your face ends up bruised and battered from a repeated sin?
Are you walking in spirit and truth, or are you walking in flesh and failure?
My friends, don’t be like I am, often afraid to consider #1-5 above (and therefore landing in #3). There is no condemnation. There is no shame. That was simply ruled out when Christ ruled on the cross. But, what is not ruled out is the fact that Jesus is not okay with grey areas of sin.
Be angry, and yet, do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity. (Eph. 4:27)
Sin is serious; Jesus said if our hand causes us to sin we gotta get the machete and cut that thing off (well, not literally, but you get the idea). (Mt. 5:30) His point is this process may hurt. It may hurt our insides to change, it may hurt as others deny or reject us and it may hurt normalcy. Jesus never said it wouldn’t hurt, but he boldly said we must get proactive to cut it off.
Failure to do so, is like putting a kid in a candy shop and telling him that he can smell but not bite. It is not happening, fellow sinners! That kid is going to jump in to devour disobedience faster than a gooey gummy bear can slide down his small throat.
What sin we sit around looking at, we will eventually grab, unwrap, salivate over and then eat – hook line full of guilt, sinking us to shame.
You can’t hang around lurking sin and think it won’t attack you. It will.
But, it’s likelihood of entry is far lower if you have set
the alarm system of wisdom to protect you.
Wisdom is foresight that considers what is about to trip. Wisdom is the intellect that looks at weaknesses, so it can stand strong. Wisdom is the smarts that stockpiles truth so, when evil arrives, it is prepared. Wisdom is the brain that sets boundaries and lines around what is most sacred. Wisdom is the fortitude that seeks to pressure wash it’s temple through prayer. Wisdom is the mindset that gets active about what it has set its mind on. Wisdom is the one that knows small things will become big sins in not too long. Wisdom is the verses that are written all over (whatever) to keep steadfast. Wisdom is the friend that is a phone call away to help one stay strong. Wisdom is the stillness established in a day to keep going the right way. Wisdom is the reliance on the Word that keeps one focused like a champion ping pong player. Wisdom is the will to have no other will than the will of God.
Wisdom is one who makes a change before sin makes a fool out of them.
It is one who knows that change without pre-set barriers, or safeguards,
is like a bird without wings.
A bird that simply can’t fly towards real spiritual growth.
What boundary do you need to define
so that you don’t end up defined by failure?
I removed my statistics plug-in on my blog. The only way to not look at what you shouldn’t look at, whether alcohol, porn, or online shopping, is to simply cut it off, cut the cord, cut the plug-in or cut whatever – so you don’t get cut. And that is what I decided to do.
You can’t sin if you don’t leave yourself any room to.
Since getting proactive, I haven’t seemingly deactivated my faith by my failure. So, I guess we can consider this a win for Jesus and move on.
What does God want you to move on to as you let go of what holds you back? Consider #1-5 and take flight to new heights of spiritual growth.
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3 Updates for Bloggers.
Thursday, I am announcing a new Purposeful Faith Contributor. Stay tuned here and on Facebook.
Submit your guest post to Purposeful Faith by Nov. 16. Details here.
The coach stopped me in my tracks with this soccer drill. It was meant for toddlers, but it was sent by God for me. It burst my bubble of known, it tossed out the waste of old and it rolled in eye-opening insight that would redecorate my heart with truth.
Who knew soccer was so good for mental health?!
4 cones.
One square.
No space.
3 Kids.
“Go!”
My son tried to move, no dice (or rather, no goal!). He tried to inch forward, but couldn’t gain traction. He tried to kick, but his ball bounced off his companions’. He tried to run, but, the two collided like blind bulls.Boing!!!
Yet, amidst the mayhem and the maniacal movements of the inept, the coach broke through “crazy” with two words, “Break Out!”
And so they did. Kids, ran left, right and nearly out of sight! Like bees set free they could chart a destination on a course that was possible, feasible and liberating all at the same. If I could have I would have cheered this moment, saying, “Go, free ones, go. Now you can fly!”
The coach would too and, together, we would breathe a sigh of relief.
What small confines are you stuck in – trying to plow your way through?
What is not giving you an iota of movement, yet still, you fight for tooth and nail?
When we are so pressed against everything, we can’t enter the huge field of opportunity the Lord has set before us. We see the Promised Land, but our eyes keep us kicking around in the small perimeter of everyone else’s movements.
They are set on our competition.
They become obsessed with personal performance.
They see each kick like an eternal report card of worth.
Moves become belabored and burdensome.
Irritation mounts.
Aggravation scores. We lose!
God becomes distant.
“He’s out in left-field somewhere!”
Break Out!
When we get hyper-focused on numbers, feedback, criticisms, critiques, God says, “Break out!”
When we start looking at everyone else’s progress, toys and accomplishments, God says, “Break out!”
When we start fearing our ability to succeed, God says, “Break out!”
When we start feeling our chest constrict into the fist of anxiety, God says, “Break out!”
When we start to be man’s responses, God says, “Break out!”
When we are obeying strategies and growth plans first and foremost, God says, “Break out!”
When we are sure we will surely be marginal at best, God says, “Break out!”
When we start making the past the predictor of our future, God says, “Break out!”
When we see the bad surrounding, the pressing in indwelling, God says, “Break out!”
When we doubt calling, God says, “Break out!”
When we wonder if we are any good, God says, “Break out!”
When we box ourself into sameness, God says, “Break out!”
When we look at boundaries and limitations, God says, “Break out!”
Get out of the box, push over the boundary and fly to the place where God is.
If you’re goal is to be with him, it is a goal that can’t be blocked.
It’s a goal that wins the game every time – heck, it wins the World Cup, for that matter!
Run into the freedom of open air.
Bask in the place of his prompting.
Skip to the place of true calling.
Jump to the heights of unrestrained love.
Fall into the depths of incalculable peace.
Sit in the field of rest.
Move to the new places, no one has transversed. Win there! That is where you win!
We find our little slice of heaven on earth, carved out for us in the here and now, in the freedom found, not in doing what the world and demands and people tell us, but found in the unusual, uncharted and unknown callings of him.
No one ever got anywhere by kicking around in the complacent and crazy confines of controlled chaos. Just ponder. Many of the “Great Remarkables” became remarkable because they stopped caring if the world called them remarkable and they just followed God.
Simple. He is speaking. Are we listening?
Look at the woman at the well. She became well because she broke free from confines at the well – so her mouth could not confine her truth of liberation.
“Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” Jo. 4:30
She had to break out of world-made form though. Do you see this power yet?
She had to trample form that told her Jews don’t talk with Samaritans.
She had to push through the fact that talking women should have husbands present.
She had to push away the fact that rabbis shouldn’t speak to sluts.
She had to break out!
To step out of the box of confines to be unconfined.
What is God ready to break out on your behalf as you break out?
God isn’t found in the small boxes of safe, of expected, of normal, of man and of “steps for success”, he is found in the wild land of adventure, pursuit and nonconformity in him, by faith and through Christ.
Break out! Today, see what holds you in and push past it in the name of Jesus. Zig and zag his way. Run arms open. Sprint into his fields of purpose.
Don’t just read this and move on, but listen and press in. Promise me that. If you don’t think this is for you, think again, it is, especially for you. What is he calling you to?
My break out: I will not intentionally look at post or visitor statistics. My words are an incense being released solely on behalf of his beauty – from my heart to his, uncensored, untouched and unchangeable by man. And so they will be. And so I will go into the field of his providence, trusting.
What is yours?
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I just go along my merry day, skipping and jumping and hiking through life, until. . . BANG! I hit a roadblock, a stumbling point or a detour to everything that I had thought, planned and willed.
This just happened to me recently. My husband and I were convinced of what our family needed to do. We investigated, we prayed, we hoped, we looked, but no matter how hard we pushed, God wasn’t opening up a single door for us to move through.
We were stuck, children, without a way.
Isolated, kept in a barren land.
Roaming, unsure of our next step.
It’s normally just about this point when things get ugly.
When we start whispering things under our breath, when we get that under-the-skin-feeling of annoyance, when our good god and his powers seem to have taken the next flight to Siberia.
Ever felt this way?
There are five defenses that push a child of God away,
faster than you can say, “orphan”, they are:
1. Believing God doesn’t care about your meaningless situation and that the grand scheme of the world takes precedence.
Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7
Notice that God does not say, “Only cast God-worthy anxiety on me,” instead he says cast all anxiety on me.
2. Telling yourself, “Pull it together and act better.”
Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge. Ps. 62:8
Let your heart’s pain pour out at the foot of the cross so that his love can co-mingle and release you from their overwhelming power.
3. Uncertainty that God will really answer you. This means you pray a little, worry much and then give up.
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. Mt. 7:7
God hears and he delights in giving his children good gifts. He hears every prayer.
4. Walking distracted rather than engaged.
I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. Ps. 119:15
If you are thinking about world things, you will be ruled by it’s ways, not God’s all rescuing truths.
5. Wrapping your arms around worries and your detailed plans that go with them.
Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, and He will do it. Ps. 37:4-5
Delight beats up worry then walks you over to your deepest desires.
Will we fortify our lives with man-made defenses
or will we fortify our lives with God’s truth
and move arms open into his great purposes,
believing he is commanding the war?
It is a choice. But, the direction we choose, determines the fullness of our calmness, satisfaction, peace and wellbeing.
The truth is God doesn’t hate us and berate us. He doesn’t restrict us, to inhibit us. He doesn’t withhold pleasure to displeasure us. He guides us to revive us, to indwell us and to compel us. He brings us from the barrenness of apprehensive and ineffective, to plains of impressive and courageous.
As we learn to take down our defenses, we end up remaining where God is. We dwell in his camp, which means we dwell in a place of complete love.
Here, he calls us to more. He beckons us to greater. He pulls us to insight. And relieves us in truth. He approves of our heart to know him. He delights in our will to rethink things. He enjoys our journey of discovery. He receives our heart to move differently. He answers our call to change. He throws out the crutches of condemnation and removes the splinters of failure. He stands arms wide open, ready to receive our changed heart. He longs that we fear not, and we don’t, instead we draw near.
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What does your face to the outside world show? Mine is a wide smile, almost busting at the seams with the joy of the Lord that’s ready to flood the floor before you with a floral arrangement of happy, loved and adored.
And, many times I do feel that way.
Yet, other times are sad times, dejected times, anxious times, frustrated times and I-don’t-know times.
How about you? What does your inside face look like? What does it really say about you?
Stopping to really think, can mean the difference between
making a lie out of your faith and starting to walk by real faith.
Let me explain.
Our life mantra is usually: Keep the exterior shiny. The paint pretty. The hedges cut. The grass trimmed. The leaves blown. The exterior of the house beautiful.
The ultimate goal is: Make sure you really believe when you drive up to your house, people aren’t falling off their rocker.
Yet, God sees past our outsides, doesn’t he? Even when we try to so carefully hide what is wildly out of control within our own house.
“People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” 1 Sam. 16:7
He sees right in, through the windows, past the locked doors, beyond the fresh coat of smiley paint. He sees the unorganized, chaotic, apprehensive and unsure cabinets of our heart.
And, he still loves. He still wants us. He doesn’t care, laugh and stare. But, he says, “Come, child, draw your heart closer to the center of my love, the hearth of all life change.”
Here, he proves stuff, valuable stuff, needed-to-hear stuff:
He proves he is not a love me, love me not type of God willing to drop us off in timbucktoo when we don’t know what to do.
He proves he loves the downtrodden and simply draws near to them. He loves truth and every time – no matter how others perceive us – he calls us to it.
He proves that people who share pain, are actually more liked by others.Which is even proven by studies that say, we like those who are like us – not perfect.
Then, as we get real with our own circumstances, pain, fears, dejection – we see what we hold is not some oddity of yuck, but what is common to nearly all men. We see that our pain can be used for other’s gain. We see that our fears are the calling card to let others in to speak reality over our lives.
We hear God almost assuring our status by his very Word over us.
It sounds something like this: “The details of your body, your make-up, your home are not hidden from me. Don’t you know I made you in a secret places? I saw your eyes before you were born, your mind before you knew it and the details of your day before you breathed. (Ps. 139:15-16). I have so much love for you, because I am rich in mercies. Even when you die all the time to your own failings, still, my grace saves you again and then again. Consider it a gift to the one I dearly love (Eph. 2:4-9). Keep your arms open to this gift, so you can unwrap all its beauty. Time and time again it proves the one that I have destined you to be like, my own son, Jesus (Ro. 8:29). You are becoming. It is a valuable process. Don’t detest it, but remember that I have prepared good works in advance for you to walk in (Eph. 2:10). I care about your journey. Don’t let your insides discredit my heart for you. I love you the way I made you – always and forever. No feeling can ever change that.”
Knowing these things, changes so many things.
If God fully loves us, does it matter if man – does or doesn’t?
God’s love sets us free to the snare of man’s opinion in a way where we can actually love man.
Instead of walking into church being Mr. or Ms. Gregarious, after suffering the worst argument ever – we tell the truth.
Instead of informing others to walk with the “joy of the Lord,” after we are walking in the depressions of parenthood, we can instead reach out for help.
Instead of answering with, “I am fabulous,” when health issues are about to plunge a loved one into pain, we can be open in a way where we hear the response, “I understand, that is happening to me too.”
When God knows our inners, he makes us into faith-reliant winners. Not perfectly happy ones, not halo-covered ones, not sparkly and glittery ones, but ones, like Jesus, ones acquainted with suffering. The real deal.
Then, suddenly, we see it isn’t so much about pretty houses, manicured yards, images of glowing Christianity, but it is all about the fire of God inside and the smell of bacon that permeates the mess of chaotic. And, we look around to say, “God is good – all the time. No matter how, I feel, he IS. And that is enough.”
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