Monthly Archives for April 2012

These beautiful people are a few of my youth group kids. They are the people that God has specifically called me to care for, intercede for, and love with all of my heart. I want to encourage you to be faithful to God in whatever place He has called you to minister. Whether it be a church ministry, or at home, or work, or wherever else, remember that God has called us to shine as lights in this world (Philippians 2:14). Rest assured in the truth that we do not labor in vain!

“Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.”
John 5:25

My Near Death Experience and My Hope.

July 31st, 2011, was the day that it was officially confirmed that I am insane. I am not kidding, like CRAZY… loco! That was the day that I ran my very first long distance race: a half-marathon. 13.1 miles!!! Let me just set this up for you. Prior to that race the longest distance that I had ever run was 3 miles. Now you see what I mean by crazy?! I am by no means an athletic person so I still to this day do not know what possessed me to sign up for and run that race.

I will save you all the gruesome details of my near death experience… ahem, I mean my race. What I will tell you is that I finished the whole race without stopping. Woot Woot! and I finished like second from last… that deserves another woot woot! =) But that’s not what I wanted to share with you all today. What I wanted to share with you is a lesson that God used that race to teach me this afternoon.

At the beginning of the race all I could imagine was me crossing the finish line. How amazing would it feel to accomplish something that I never thought that I could do? To hear my name announced for all to hear, to see the balloons, the cheering crowd, and to have a medal placed around my neck? How awesome would that feel? However, as I began to run that race (and slowly feel my life slipping away from me) the finish line that once seemed so glorious became less and less important. At some point, the finish line no longer even mattered. The only thing that mattered to me was reaching the next water stop (which were dispersed every 2-3 miles along the course). The thought of the finish line many miles away offered me no hope when compared to the thought of the water stop that was soon approaching.

I had lost sight of my ultimate destination.

So it is with our lives. So often we become preoccupied with the water stops that life offers us. The water stops in life are those things that offer momentary pleasure and joy. Many of these water stops are great things: relationships, marriage, children, ministry positions, and all other lovely things. However, we must never forget that these things are fleeting. They are not what this race is all about. Our water stops in life are indeed blessings, times of refreshment from the Lord. But we must understand that God has given these things to us mainly to point us to Him. They are but instruments to give us a glimpse of the glory that is to come. THIS, my friends, is our hope!

May we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus!

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Hebrews 12:1-2

My Slap In The Face To The Lord.

Lately, I have felt a strain in my quiet times (or should I say attempts to have quiet times) with the Lord. I’ve known there was something wrong because God as the good and loving Father that He is is always so faithful to let me know when I’m doing something that isn’t pleasing to Him in some way or another. Whether it be the absence of His presence or just the restlessness of my heart, He lets me know.

Quick side note: I am really learning to love the chastening of the Lord, it is a good thing… don’t ever forget that.

Okay, back to my story, God finally revealed to me tonight what it is in my life that is so grieving Him. My presumptuousness. Specifically, my swiftness to attempt to discern God’s will without even asking Him. This is the way I have been living my life for the past few months.

God makes it very clear in His Word that it matters so much to Him that His children understand what His will is. Ephesians 5:17 says, “Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” Maybe now that we grasp just how important this is to God we can understand why it hurts Him so much when His children assume His will without seeking it.

It is a dangerous place to be to believe that You are so close to the Lord that You longer need to ask Him what He thinks about a certain thing. May we never forget that as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are His ways higher than our ways, and His thoughts higher than our thoughts! (Isaiah 55:9)

You see, it is so easy to fall into the trap of presumption with those closest to us. Here’s just a silly little example: Lets say that we were to ask a man what a random stranger that he had just met for the first time on the train would like for lunch, he would probably look at you like you were crazy and say, “how am I supposed to know that?” BUT if you asked this same man what his wife would like for lunch, he would probably swiftly respond something like this, “Oh she would love a ham and pineapple pizza from that little Italian spot on the corner… that’s her favorite!”

See how it works? The more we know a person the easier it becomes for us to speak for them. I wonder how many marriages have suffered or even ended because communication lines were severed as husbands and wives opted to instead presume the desires of their spouses instead of seeking them out.

The closer we walk with God the easier it becomes to fall into this trap. As baby Christians we run to the Word of God and to His presence for every matter of life, whether small or great. But as we grow in our faith, how easy it becomes to trust in our own wisdom. As wonderful as it is to have the Word of God abiding in our hearts, it can never be a replacement for the voice of God when it comes to direction in our lives.

“Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left.”
Isaiah 30:21

A single chord has struck me deepest from one of the strongest examples of biblical marriage I know. Whenever the wife in this particular marriage is talking to me about anything that involves making a significant decision involving her time,  money, or any other thing, she always says, “I think that will be fine but let me ask my hubby first.” Why does she do this? Well, as a wife living in submission to her husband, a failure not to do this would be an undercut to his authority.

So it is with the Lord. When we determine what the Lord would will without so much as asking Him we undermine His authority as both Father and Lord. It is a  slap in the face, an insult, to the Lord. Oh, may we never lose our humility! May we never lose our innocence! May we never forsake running to the Lord for all things!

Journal Entry: I Want To Be Holy.

“I believe the holier a man becomes, the more he mourns over the unholiness which remains in him.”
Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Sunday, April 22nd, 2012   10:12 p.m.

  Lord, there is the me that I want to be and then there is the me that I am here and now. I desire so badly to be holy, to be like You, but so often I find myself walking after my flesh. Who will save me from this body of death? I thank God – through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Romans 7:24-25). Lord, You are able to make me holy. As I grieve over the unholiness that remains in me, may I be encouraged by the truth that the work of sanctification is not mine to bear. It is Your work, oh Lord! All You require of me is a surrendered heart. All I must do is receive Your perfect life and abide in You and I shall be made holy!

“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.”

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24

Journal Excerpt: Be Still My Soul.

“What God asks is a will which will no longer be divided between Him and any creature, a will pliant in His hands, which neither desires anything nor refuses anything, which wants without reservation everything which He wants, and which never, under any pretext, wants anything which He does not want.”
Francois Fenelon

April 20th, 2012   10:58p.m.

     Lord, why is it so hard for me to understand that Your ways are perfect? When You tell me to do something or not to do something I sometimes feel a sense of loss… like things won’t work out as they should. What?! I don’t get how I can think this way… but I do… SO much! I want so badly to trust You Lord but my heart so easily gets carried away by my own desires. Be still my soul! The idea of my future is the area in which I am finding it the hardest to allow my soul to rest in you. Not so much about my career or where I live or anything like that but mainly my future husband. I know that it is not my time yet but the man that I will spend the rest of my life with has been on my heart so much lately… every day. I don’t know why and I don’t know if these desires (or should I say anxieties) belong here right now… please show me. I want my heart to be like a weaned child (psalm 131) especially in this area… trusting You even though I don’t understand right now (and perhaps will not for many more months or years)… You can never fail me. You are TOO faithful. Lord I need You so badly. I desire You so much. I want to know You more. I want You to rule over me fully and completely. Take my life!