I really was not sure what to name this one. I just know I have always had a hard time understanding why we are to speak blessings over someone that hurts us or is horribly inconsiderate like the guy that cuts you off in traffic. Why in the world would we pray for God to bless them when they are so thoughtless and need to come to their senses and change their behavior?
The verse Romans 2:4 came to mind about how the goodness of God leads us to repentance. I don't know about you but somehow I always read that to say in essence that God loving us is what brings us to salvation. That is not what it says though, is it. It really does apply to this situation.
We want this thoughtless inconsiderate person to change their behavior before we pray blessings over them. It is our nature to feel this way. I am finding it is not God's nature to feel this way though. Basically we want their repentance to lead to the goodness of God and yet His word says it just the opposite. If I truly want them to change their behavior (or repent) what does God's word say leads them to that according to this verse? The goodness of God is the answer.
Be patient Lord, I am learning! I will pray blessings on those people and pray that you are so good to them that it changes them like your love has changed me. Thank you Lord for giving me insight once again about a portion of your word that I did not understand. Your ways are so much higher than mine and you prove it so very often!
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Monday, July 2, 2012
My Life is His Garden
It has been a hard week. That saying "when it rains, it pours" seemed like it was written just for me. I oftentimes tell people that saying is true but it is also true of blessings. God can and will rain blessings on our lives at times. This was not bringing me much encouragement. I felt as if one of the biggest blessings in my life could be taken from me at any moment. Knowing he would be dancing with Jesus was not bringing me much encouragement either. I was hurting so badly.
Our vehicle was not cooperating either. We finally got the entire bottom end rebuilt and still having oil pressure issues but at least it was running. We went to run some errands and on the way back the clutch went out.....right before a red light! I was screaming inside and yet we knew if we turned it off we were stuck as we could not push start it. If the clutch is not pushed in it will not start period. We got through the first light as there was very little traffic and we were turning right. Okay, two more stop lights, a railroad crossing, a stop sign and about 10 miles to the house. My mind remembered every wide place in the road directly before a stop light or stop sign. We only had to pull off and circle for one red light. Next is the gate at the house. Oh boy! Me in my flip flops jumping out of a moving vehicle next to an irrigation canal. I gotta tell ya, it was rather comical! No injuries, just a step stumble NONgraceful landing and I had the gate open. Brian circled the truck and came back and parked it in the shade. We fixed the clutch.
As I went to bed last night I was reading as usual and when I saw "Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice" I cried out to God. "Even when it seems shit is coming from every direction??" Yes, I said shit to God and thankfully He puts up with me even in those mouthy moods. He impressed upon me that His word also says we should rejoice during trials and tribulations. Even then Lord?? Even now?? This was the beginning of a long talk which I will try to share with you what I learned.
His answer to my question as to whether to rejoice even during the shit storms was "especially then, especially now". I am His garden and I am to bring forth fruit in my life. Well any of us farm kids or gardeners know that "shit" is just another word for fertilizer. We also know that fertilizer burns if there is no water and will ruin a crop quickly. How do I water it Lord? Water is often used in His word to refer to the Holy Spirit. Waters coming forth from inside us or the Living Water are used many times to talk of the Holy Spirit. Okay, so I need the Holy Spirit flowing to water this fertilizer in order to keep it from burning so I can bring forth fruit in my life. What is the best way to bring the Holy Spirit close and flowing in my life?? Praise of course, is the best way! The Holy Spirit inhabits our praise! Okay, so the more fertilizer I have on my garden (or my life) the more water (or Living Water) I need in order to produce fruit!
Yes Lord, now I understand why we are to praise You even in the storms of life, especially in the storms! Thank you Lord for sharing your heart and helping me to understand how now when I am hurting it is the most important to praise you! You are so patient and loving with me and soooo worthy of my praise! Thank you Lord for all you do but mostly for who you ARE! You are indescribable and I am so very thankful for your love! Let my life be your garden and always let me be good soil to plant seeds in so that I may understand you more and share you with others!
Our vehicle was not cooperating either. We finally got the entire bottom end rebuilt and still having oil pressure issues but at least it was running. We went to run some errands and on the way back the clutch went out.....right before a red light! I was screaming inside and yet we knew if we turned it off we were stuck as we could not push start it. If the clutch is not pushed in it will not start period. We got through the first light as there was very little traffic and we were turning right. Okay, two more stop lights, a railroad crossing, a stop sign and about 10 miles to the house. My mind remembered every wide place in the road directly before a stop light or stop sign. We only had to pull off and circle for one red light. Next is the gate at the house. Oh boy! Me in my flip flops jumping out of a moving vehicle next to an irrigation canal. I gotta tell ya, it was rather comical! No injuries, just a step stumble NONgraceful landing and I had the gate open. Brian circled the truck and came back and parked it in the shade. We fixed the clutch.
As I went to bed last night I was reading as usual and when I saw "Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice" I cried out to God. "Even when it seems shit is coming from every direction??" Yes, I said shit to God and thankfully He puts up with me even in those mouthy moods. He impressed upon me that His word also says we should rejoice during trials and tribulations. Even then Lord?? Even now?? This was the beginning of a long talk which I will try to share with you what I learned.
His answer to my question as to whether to rejoice even during the shit storms was "especially then, especially now". I am His garden and I am to bring forth fruit in my life. Well any of us farm kids or gardeners know that "shit" is just another word for fertilizer. We also know that fertilizer burns if there is no water and will ruin a crop quickly. How do I water it Lord? Water is often used in His word to refer to the Holy Spirit. Waters coming forth from inside us or the Living Water are used many times to talk of the Holy Spirit. Okay, so I need the Holy Spirit flowing to water this fertilizer in order to keep it from burning so I can bring forth fruit in my life. What is the best way to bring the Holy Spirit close and flowing in my life?? Praise of course, is the best way! The Holy Spirit inhabits our praise! Okay, so the more fertilizer I have on my garden (or my life) the more water (or Living Water) I need in order to produce fruit!
Yes Lord, now I understand why we are to praise You even in the storms of life, especially in the storms! Thank you Lord for sharing your heart and helping me to understand how now when I am hurting it is the most important to praise you! You are so patient and loving with me and soooo worthy of my praise! Thank you Lord for all you do but mostly for who you ARE! You are indescribable and I am so very thankful for your love! Let my life be your garden and always let me be good soil to plant seeds in so that I may understand you more and share you with others!
Saturday, June 16, 2012
The Desert
The Bible has so many references to the desert with so many meanings that it shares. I actually live in a desert so those parts of the bible say a lot to me because I can relate to them in so many different ways. I see God in the desert each day, in what is created there and the wildlife that share that desert. I also can relate in my heart to the desert, to those times where it seems God has stepped out and you do not feel His presence so strongly. The other night when I was texting with my daughter who is experiencing some really hard times she told me she was feeling Psalm 113 clear to her toes lately. I assured her I had been there and we had a very nice "talk" which I believe she took to heart.
Those desert times when you feel Psalm 113 clear to your toes have proven to be very special times in my life as I look back. Times I dug deeper than ever, totally immersed myself in Him and His word so as not to feel alone. I believe we grow very deep roots during this time of digging deep, we search out the living water of the Holy Spirit to refresh us. Those deep roots build our faith so very much and give us strength to withstand storms in life. I have found that after being in the desert I can dance in the rain of the storms knowing He is there so deeply that I celebrate Him.
I see in my reading the Bible that there are so many known for their great faith and it seems they were always taken to the desert in one way or another. Sometimes that desert time feels as if it is failure and we are not sure how or when we will come back out of it. If we lean on Him, dig deeper for what we can learn we find we come out of the desert so very much stronger than we went in but it is not our strength but His that carries us, self has been stripped away and we rejoice in His strength instead of our own. I think I could write forever about the desert and what I have learned in the physical desert and that spiritual desert as well. I am so very thankful for my desert experiences. I know so very deeply it is all Him and about Him. I do so love Him so!
Those desert times when you feel Psalm 113 clear to your toes have proven to be very special times in my life as I look back. Times I dug deeper than ever, totally immersed myself in Him and His word so as not to feel alone. I believe we grow very deep roots during this time of digging deep, we search out the living water of the Holy Spirit to refresh us. Those deep roots build our faith so very much and give us strength to withstand storms in life. I have found that after being in the desert I can dance in the rain of the storms knowing He is there so deeply that I celebrate Him.
I see in my reading the Bible that there are so many known for their great faith and it seems they were always taken to the desert in one way or another. Sometimes that desert time feels as if it is failure and we are not sure how or when we will come back out of it. If we lean on Him, dig deeper for what we can learn we find we come out of the desert so very much stronger than we went in but it is not our strength but His that carries us, self has been stripped away and we rejoice in His strength instead of our own. I think I could write forever about the desert and what I have learned in the physical desert and that spiritual desert as well. I am so very thankful for my desert experiences. I know so very deeply it is all Him and about Him. I do so love Him so!
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Judgement of Others
Just sharing some of my thoughts today.
Who made up the rule that the most visible sins were the worst? Certainly not God, Jesus made it real clear that God was concerned with our heart. Wait, that is INSIDE, where no one can see it!! Who am I to decide what each person should work on next? Me who is so imperfect whom God was SO patient with and continues to be today? God has a plan for each of our lives. He knows what comes next, He knows which order those pieces of our "self" need to melt away and how. Let’s leave His work in others to Him and quit second guessing Him. Let’s work on being sensitive to what He is saying to each of us, in what ways He is urging us to love others. Love Him, love others, those were His commands to us. He said HE would finish the good work He started in us, and them too so stay out of His way. Are we to judge someone else’s employee? Does it matter what you think of Farmer John’s employee if he is thrilled with them? We, each of us, are God’s favorite, the apple of His eye and if one of us is judging another, are we not setting ourselves up to be judged by others as well? Judge not lest you be judged in Matthew 7:1 also tells us that if we judge others harshly that is how we will be judged. I pretty much want to be as merciful as possible in my judgments of others because I really need that mercy when I am judged!
If you can keep all of the law then go on your merry way, you don’t need a savior, at least not until reality hits you in the face. Make no mistake, it certainly will too!
When you find yourself wanting to ridicule others or vent about them try this-earnestly ask God to show you His heart for that person. You will know He has answered when you start to feel as if you are in their shoes, feeling their suffering and overwhelmed with compassion. That is how our God feels about them, and about us when we are messing up and hurting. That is your clue to pray for them.
Everyone hurts, all you see that you find a source of irritation is someone carrying a burden that you surely do not want to carry. Perhaps that burden has overwhelmed them at that moment and they have acted or reacted in a way that irritated you.
I personally think that most people are so terrified of looking full on into the face of their own issues that they look outside at everyone else and their issues. All this time not realizing they cannot clearly see the issues of someone else through the tainted lens of their own issues. I believe our Savior said something about removing a beam from your own eye so you can see the remove the splinter in another's? Maybe He was onto something.
Who made up the rule that the most visible sins were the worst? Certainly not God, Jesus made it real clear that God was concerned with our heart. Wait, that is INSIDE, where no one can see it!! Who am I to decide what each person should work on next? Me who is so imperfect whom God was SO patient with and continues to be today? God has a plan for each of our lives. He knows what comes next, He knows which order those pieces of our "self" need to melt away and how. Let’s leave His work in others to Him and quit second guessing Him. Let’s work on being sensitive to what He is saying to each of us, in what ways He is urging us to love others. Love Him, love others, those were His commands to us. He said HE would finish the good work He started in us, and them too so stay out of His way. Are we to judge someone else’s employee? Does it matter what you think of Farmer John’s employee if he is thrilled with them? We, each of us, are God’s favorite, the apple of His eye and if one of us is judging another, are we not setting ourselves up to be judged by others as well? Judge not lest you be judged in Matthew 7:1 also tells us that if we judge others harshly that is how we will be judged. I pretty much want to be as merciful as possible in my judgments of others because I really need that mercy when I am judged!
If you can keep all of the law then go on your merry way, you don’t need a savior, at least not until reality hits you in the face. Make no mistake, it certainly will too!
When you find yourself wanting to ridicule others or vent about them try this-earnestly ask God to show you His heart for that person. You will know He has answered when you start to feel as if you are in their shoes, feeling their suffering and overwhelmed with compassion. That is how our God feels about them, and about us when we are messing up and hurting. That is your clue to pray for them.
Everyone hurts, all you see that you find a source of irritation is someone carrying a burden that you surely do not want to carry. Perhaps that burden has overwhelmed them at that moment and they have acted or reacted in a way that irritated you.
I personally think that most people are so terrified of looking full on into the face of their own issues that they look outside at everyone else and their issues. All this time not realizing they cannot clearly see the issues of someone else through the tainted lens of their own issues. I believe our Savior said something about removing a beam from your own eye so you can see the remove the splinter in another's? Maybe He was onto something.
Monday, May 21, 2012
The God Who Sees Me
Last week I was reading a book about God and how He is the God who sees us. (The lady writing the book had been reading about how Hagar had been the first to call God the God who sees me when she was escaping Sarai and God heard her cries. ) This lady found herself asking God to show her in some way that He saw her every need, truly saw HER as she was searching for some lip balm in her purse. She offhandedly said she could sure use some lip balm. If I remember it correctly when she got back to her desk someone had left her a gift of lip balm. Every time she gets lip balm now it is a reminder to her that God saw even that small need, He truly sees HER personally.
Of course after reading this I was thinking how very special that was and asking God could He not show me somehow really cool like that. The internal dialog went something like this.....
Me-That is just too special, I would so love something similar that would say just to me how much you love me and see my needs.
God began reminding me of the stars and the many things He had taught me about His love with them and the doves that come to me during my prayer times and watch me, they even hatched their babies right by the gate in the cactus.
Me-Yes but those are there all the time and could just be coincidences.
God reminded me His love was just like that...there all the time and there are NO coincidences.
Me-forgive me Lord, you are so right and those things are so very special to me and do remind me of your love and teach me so much. I do love you so very much, thank you!
Fast forward to the next day. Brian asked me to go watch a movie with him that was very very loud and action packed. We both enjoyed the movie a lot but I was very much looking forward to some quiet time when we left. Brian wanted to go to Walmart first. Oh dear...I do hate going to Walmart! I tend to feel the emotions of folks around me and I am telling you right now there are NOT many happy people in Walmart! to say the least I was definitely overstimulated and craving quiet time by the time we left Walmart. Brian asked if I would like to go the back way or the freeway going home. I told him the least traffic way! As we started down one of the dirt roads going the back way home my mouth dropped open. The road was absolutely covered with doves!! I am not exaggerating when I say this. Brian actually had to slow way down to keep from hitting any of them. Suddenly I felt as if I was immersed in God's love and every bit of anxiety and craving for quiet time left me. I felt as if God was asking me what I thought of this lil "coincidence" as He laughed and reminded me that seeing doves was definitely still one of His ways of telling me He sees me. What an amazing God He is!! I am so very blessed!
Of course after reading this I was thinking how very special that was and asking God could He not show me somehow really cool like that. The internal dialog went something like this.....
Me-That is just too special, I would so love something similar that would say just to me how much you love me and see my needs.
God began reminding me of the stars and the many things He had taught me about His love with them and the doves that come to me during my prayer times and watch me, they even hatched their babies right by the gate in the cactus.
Me-Yes but those are there all the time and could just be coincidences.
God reminded me His love was just like that...there all the time and there are NO coincidences.
Me-forgive me Lord, you are so right and those things are so very special to me and do remind me of your love and teach me so much. I do love you so very much, thank you!
Fast forward to the next day. Brian asked me to go watch a movie with him that was very very loud and action packed. We both enjoyed the movie a lot but I was very much looking forward to some quiet time when we left. Brian wanted to go to Walmart first. Oh dear...I do hate going to Walmart! I tend to feel the emotions of folks around me and I am telling you right now there are NOT many happy people in Walmart! to say the least I was definitely overstimulated and craving quiet time by the time we left Walmart. Brian asked if I would like to go the back way or the freeway going home. I told him the least traffic way! As we started down one of the dirt roads going the back way home my mouth dropped open. The road was absolutely covered with doves!! I am not exaggerating when I say this. Brian actually had to slow way down to keep from hitting any of them. Suddenly I felt as if I was immersed in God's love and every bit of anxiety and craving for quiet time left me. I felt as if God was asking me what I thought of this lil "coincidence" as He laughed and reminded me that seeing doves was definitely still one of His ways of telling me He sees me. What an amazing God He is!! I am so very blessed!
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