I am Convinced!

So now I live with the confidence that there is nothing in the universe with the power to separate us from God’s love. I’m convinced that his love will triumph over death, life’s troubles, fallen angels, or dark rulers in the heavens. There is nothing in our present or future circumstances that can weaken his love. There is no power above us or beneath us—no power that could ever be found in the universe that can distance us from God’s passionate love, which is lavished upon us through our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One!

Romans 8:38-39

 I rambled, praying under my breath, “I don’t think I can do this, Lord, this is too intimidating, … I feel so alone, so small.” I was in the midst of a heinous situation at work. Before I knew it, anxiety was creeping up and tossing and turning in bed became the new normal. I began to reach out to my prayer warrior friends and one afternoon an email response came from friends that are sort of spiritual parents to me. One word of encouragement shifted the atmosphere, “hang in there, times like these are ‘ektenós’ times.”

Strong’s Greek Concordance defines ektenós as: properly, fully-stretched, i.e. describing the verbal idea as extended out, to its necessary (full) potential (“without slack”); strenuously, without undue let up (as “completely taut”). My mouth dropped open as I read this definition because it was exactly what I was feeling, stretched to the limit, it hurt so badly. The problem was, I was focusing on the pain, not the reality of what it was producing. I was being stretched tight, as necessary to reach my full potential. 

I was reminded of things I knew but lost sight of in the face of adversity: if you know Jesus, the same spirit that raised Him from the dead lives in me, in you! There’s nothing you cannot do, no battle you cannot fight! No journey you cannot take! No pressure you cannot overcome! This doesn’t mean tough situations will always work out perfectly, we must remember that only God sees the whole situation and all of its working parts, only He sees hearts and future outcomes. 1 Corinthians 13:9 even says, “For we know in part, and we prophesy in part [for our knowledge is fragmentary and incomplete].”

Are you facing an issue or problem that just feels like an avalanche, threatening to overwhelm and overtake you? Cry out to Jesus, lament and ask for clarity to see the full picture. Please remember, friend, these are ektenós times.

Abba Father, help us to feel Your presence, Your strong arms wrapped around us. We praise You and thank You that we are never alone. In difficult times, Lord, bring brothers and sisters in Christ around us to speak life-giving words to help us to see clearly. We love You Lord. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

“Becoming”

But the moment one turns to the Lord with an open heart, the veil is lifted and they see. Now, the “Lord” I’m referring to is the Holy Spirit, and wherever he is Lord, there is freedom. We can all draw close to him with the veil removed from our faces. And with no veil we all become like mirrors who brightly reflect the glory of the Lord Jesus. We are being transfigured into his very image as we move from one brighter level of glory to another. And this glorious transfiguration comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:16-18 TPT

We all have milestone moments of maturing, those moments where you can see a situation or memory much clearer than ever before. I can remember the day when everything I thought I knew and understood about my parents, their relationship, and ultimately their divorce, unraveled. I began to understand the enormity of the dysfunction and unhealed wounds I was raised with. Then there was parenting, the parent I swore I would be, the things I said I would or wouldn’t ever do, have changed and continue to change as I am maturing, researching, experiencing, and praying through every season. Then there’s politics, relationships, ministry, etc. and the list of the areas where we must continue to grow goes on and on.

Like today’s verse says, we move from glory to glory. In other words, we are all “becoming.” We will never fully “arrive” until the day we come face to face with Abba Father. 2 Timothy 3:15-17 says, “There’s nothing like the written Word of God for showing you the way to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another—showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God’s way. Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us.” As we live life, we have a choice, do we live just for ourselves, stuck in our own ways, or do we keep allowing the Lord to do a work in us? If we are smart, we will choose the latter. We must allow Him to expose and reveal more and more about His character, His plan, and purpose He has in store for us. When we surrender and allow for “the veil to be removed,” we are able to see and respond more and more like Him.

It is crucial to create healthy habits that invite the Holy Spirit to bring maturity and change into the immature, selfish places we all have. In my home, one small change that has created a place of learning, growing, and maturing, happened in the early 2000s. My husband and I decided that we wanted to start regularly praying together and over one another every morning, before our days began. 21 years later, we have missed just a handful of days and we have seen and continue to see our union grow in spiritual, emotional, physical intimacy; all because we intentionally set aside 10 minutes, every morning. I am constantly blown away at the faithfulness of our God!

Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your Word and the fact that we will never, ever be perfect, but You are still massively in love with us! This world is in desperate need of Your light to shine in dark, divisive, unruly places. Help us, Your people, to take a stand and choose to allow You to bring big, bold changes in our hearts so that we can be world changers beginning in our homes and neighborhoods today! In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

My Plastic Tambourine

‘Come on, everyone! Let’s sing for joy to the Lord! Let’s shout our loudest praises to our God who saved us! For the Lord is the greatest of all, King-God over all other gods! In one hand he holds the mysteries of the earth and in the other he holds the highest mountain peaks. He’s the owner of every ocean, the engineer and sculptor of earth itself! Come and kneel before this Creator-God; come and bow before the mighty God, our majestic maker!’ Psalms 95:1,3-6

My favorite memories are those that you can almost feel all the senses you felt when you experienced it for the first time. One memory that is so special to me was when I was around the age of 7. My mom and I sat in our living room, the couches were so velvety soft and comfortable, the morning sun spilled through the big windows and the warmth soaked deep through my skin. My mom brought out the small tub of plastic percussion instruments and we began to sing. I can still hear the lyrics we sang, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful place…”, “more love, more power, more of You in my life….”, “You are exalted, the King is exalted on high, I will praise Him!” With all my might, I would tap my little plastic tambourine and shake my little plastic maracas and I felt the presence of the Lord in that living room in such a real way. I remember feeling no pressure, like all the concerns about the difficulties going on at home melted away for a brief time. I will never forget it and I will always be grateful to my mom for teaching me the importance of not just worshipping, but soaking in His presence.

Now that I am an adult, a wife, and a mother, I still do the same, minus the plastic tambourine. There are times when I get so wrapped up in a current situation that I forget to turn to worship and what a disappointment those times are, clarity is suppressed and anxiety starts to run high. But oh, when I choose to whisper a hymn or hop in the car and immerse myself in worship, the atmosphere shifts and I begin to hear what the Lord is speaking more clearly. What a gift!

Heavenly Father, thank You for the extravagant gift of worship and the miraculous way that it transforms difficult, confusing situations. Help us, Holy Spirit, not to hesitate to go straight to worship before trying to figure things out on our own. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

In Times Like These

But that’s not all! Even in times of trouble we have a joyful confidence, knowing that our pressures will develop in us patient endurance. And patient endurance will refine our character, and proven character leads us back to hope. And this hope is not a disappointing fantasy, because we can now experience the endless love of God cascading into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who lives in us!

Romans 5:3-5

One evening, I believe it was mid-April, far enough into the pandemic to realize it wasn’t going away anytime soon but early enough into it to not be able to wrap my head around it all. I was washing the dishes after dinner, and found myself with a lump in my throat which turned into a bit of weeping. My husband came in and asked me to share what was going on in my heart. He held me and said a few simple words that washed over me as profound truth, “all of this is not normal, and you are not wrong to feel the way you are feeling, but you cannot stay in those feelings for too long.” As I allowed myself to let the tears flow, I began to feel that lump in my throat dissipate and the heaviness began to feel a bit lighter.

I share this story, transparently because it really is ok that we are all feeling a bit (or a lot) off. While it may have been nice to be home with our families and have time to get stuff done, the reality of this pandemic is heartbreaking, the loss, death, fear, angst has been at an all-time high. The rules and regulations, we are becoming accustomed to, can feel overwhelming, maybe even suffocating for some. Sarah Young, author of Jesus Calling warns, “Be on guard against the slimy pit of self-pity when you are weary, this demonic trap is the greatest danger you face. Don’t even go near the edge, they easily crumble and before you know it you are on your way down.” My pastor reminded us that Paul was IN PRISON when he said, “In any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.” Now that should serve as some serious inspiration!

I love how today’s passage gives us a clear and easy way to grasp clarification of the process we are all in. As we invite and allow the Holy Spirit to do a mighty work in us in times of trouble, we can have joyful confidence knowing that these pressures are developing patient endurance, which is refining our character leading us to a hope unshaken! Today, I urge you to climb up onto the Father’s lap, head against His chest, quietly listening to His heartbeat. The longer we spend in this place of surrender; our hearts become more and more in sync with His.

Heavenly Father, we don’t even have the words to pray, but in Romans 8:24 your Word says “The Holy Spirit takes hold of us in our human frailty to empower us in our weakness. At times we don’t even know how to pray, or know the best things to ask for. But the Holy Spirit rises up within us to super-intercede on our behalf, pleading to God with emotional sighs too deep for words.” So, Holy Spirit take over, we need more of You and less of us in this season. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

Turn Your Eyes

“What if God designed marriage to make us holy more than to make us happy?” This is one of my favorite rhetorical questions, posed by Gary Thomas, author of Sacred Marriage. I believe the question really applies to most, if not all circumstances we go through in this life. What if the situations we are walking through today are not specifically happening to bring us joy or pain, but are a part of molding us, training us to look more and more like Jesus? As this transformation occurs, we increasingly shine an eternal light into a dark, unbelieving, anxiety-ridden world.

This life gives us opportunities and choices in how we respond: peaceful patience; a blow-up meltdown; faith-filled reliance on the Lord; love; hate; self-control; self-indulgence . . . The world is watching . . . Our children are watching to see what choices we make and if they line up with this Jesus we talk about. We are given these divine moments, no matter how uncomfortable, to fix our eyes on Jesus and respond to what life throws at us with an eternal mindset.

Today, as I am grappling with my own “difficult circumstances,” the Holy Spirit reminded me of this sweet, powerful hymn:

          Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
          Look full in His wonderful face.
          And the things of earth will
          Grow strangely dim,
          In the light of His glory and
          Grace.

 Jesus, this life is not easy. Help me to remember that You never promised easy, but You did promise You would never leave me alone. I want to keep my eyes locked on Yours and see this world as You see it—temporary. I praise You and thank You for the training course I am on, no matter how sore I may be at times. Please, Lord, allow those who are watching to see You in my actions and choices. In Jesus’ name, amen.

“Don’t be pulled in different directions or worried about a thing. Be saturated in prayer throughout each day, offering your faith-filled requests before God with overflowing gratitude. Tell him every detail of your life, then God’s wonderful peace that transcends human understanding, will make the answers known to you through Jesus Christ. So keep your thoughts continually fixed on all that is authentic and real, honorable and admirable, beautiful and respectful, pure and holy, merciful and kind. And fasten your thoughts on every glorious work of God, praising him always.”

Phillipians 4:6-8 TPT

Seed Sized Faith

I have to confess, every-so-often I lay in bed, worried. What was once a small possibility of a negative outcome becomes a catastrophic event in my mind. My thoughts race. As concerns and made up conclusions snowball, I remember one thing I have learned over the years. I choose not to stay there, allowing things to overtake me. I retreat to the couch; cozy blanket, devotional, journal, and Bible in hand. I start with writing to “Papa,” talking to Him like a child would cry out to their Daddy, pouring out fears, concerns, worries, etc. Meanwhile, I begin to get a whisper, almost like an editor in my thoughts as I write. Truths begin to download, verses memorized as a child begin to surface and an undeniable peace begins to wash over me. I tend to stop writing at this point and dig into a devotional or open the Bible.
 
God’s Word does not fail! The Holy Spirit always highlights promise after promise, not that all will be comfortable or my plan/solution will be the one that prevails, but that HE IS IN CONTROL!
 
If this meets you in a place today, where you may be feeling overwhelmed, fearful, worrisome, I want to urge you, friend, to climb up in your Father’s lap and allow the love letter of God’s Word to speak into your current situation. Ask the Lord for peace, comfort, and clarity.
 
Heavenly Father, this life tends to throw many things at us that our minds and hearts just can’t fathom turning out ok. Help me Lord, to see with the eyes of a trusting child. Holy Spirit nudge me to turn to your Word before allowing my thoughts to become overwhelming, before texting a friend to vent, and before giving up. Help me to have faith that your promises are true, even if it’s mustard seed sized faith to begin with. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

And He said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.” Matthew 17:20

A Snippet of our Story

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The Holy Spirit had been prompting me, nudging me to be bold and brave, to face tucked-away secrets. I thought I had successfully skirted the situation, conning myself into believing I could sweep this monstrosity-of-a-secret under the rug and it wouldn’t affect my walk, my health, our marriage, or our kids.
 
Then one summer evening, my husband and I were seated two rows from the front, off to the left, when worship began. I stood, raised my hands and began worshiping. As I closed my eyes and sang loudly, I strongly felt my King magnified as the lyrics poured from my mouth. Suddenly, very clear words were spoken to me. They were somehow louder than the worship team but soft and gentle, right in my ear.
 

“No more. No more worshiping, pretending, faking ‘fine.’ It’s time to face the truth and confess.”
 
A good decade and a half has passed since that life-changing evening and what I know now is this: As I worshiped the Lord that night, my perspective began to change. The lies I had come to accept became blurry and His will became clear. I know for certain the Lord showed up in a huge way that night. I confessed unfaithfulness to my husband and chains broke. That night was the beginning of the healing and restoration process for us. Freedom, unity, and a passion-filled marriage were loosed; bound were wedges called shame and guilt that hell had used to keep our marriage cold and broken.
 
Over the years, I’ve learned that the enemy would like us to believe we are not worthy to raise our hands in worship because we are too guilty, too sinful. While those things are true, we must look to the Word as our truth, our guide. 1 Peter 4:8b says, “Love covers a multitude of sins.” In Jesus’ love for us we see this very thing. Isaiah 53:5b speaks of the mighty love Jesus has for us and the salvation and healing He brings:
 
    But he was pierced for our transgressions,
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
    the punishment that brought us peace
    was on him, and by his wounds we are
    healed.
 
Worship positions us to see clearly, to be made whole, and to align ourselves with His will. So, let’s praise Him! For all that He is, all that He has done, praise Him!
 
Father God, we thank You for worship and for all that goes on in the heavenly realm when we position our hearts to magnify You. Help us never to feel unworthy to bow before You or raise our hands in praise. You are so worthy for all that You are, all that You’ve done, and all You are doing. We love You. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Why Celebrate Tomorrow?

When I think back to the days where my husband and I were changing diapers, making bottles and schlepping around our huge double stroller, I can still hear the words “mama, dada” slipping out of those sweet, tiny lips. I can remember having friends with older children saying they couldn’t wait until their children were out on their own and my heart would break. I would listen and silently judge them, asking myself, “How could a parent not want to keep their babies home with them forever?”

Fast-forward about 20 years and quite often, my husband and I now find ourselves on our back patio, daydreaming together of what life will be like when we have an empty nest. Please hear our hearts, we LOVE our kids and enjoy all most, moments with them but, things have shifted. Over the years, our children have grown up, slowly maturing, exercising their free-will while finding themselves and working out their own salvation. This growth isn’t always enjoyable or comfortable; meanwhile my husband and I are growing more in love, we’re finding our “favorites” together and our relationship is maturing and growing into a life-giving ministry.

Why not dream in anticipation while we lead, guide, nurture and cover our children in prayer? Why not take every opportunity to celebrate this love; this daydreaming, purposeful, passionate union? He’s given us such a gift! Forget all the hoopla, ignore the protesters who chant “Valentine’s is materialism at it’s finest… don’t make Hallmark’s pockets fatter…” Let’s all take time, be intentional, praise God for our marriages (no matter what season you may be in), this life-long love is worth celebrating!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Who’s the Real Enemy Here?

Life seems unfair at times, doesn’t it? This year, in my own circle of influence, I’ve seen a couple close to us healing from the pain of infidelity; experienced many highs and lows in parenting, sometimes joy-filled, sometimes heart-breaking; and struggled through the ramifications of hurtful words and miscommunications with extended family. With so much hurt and brokenness, the enemy sneaks in too many temptations and opportunities for resentment, unforgiveness and revenge.

One early morning, praying with a heavy heart, I asked the Lord to intervene and bring reconciliation and restoration to every strained situation. The Holy Spirit reminded me, “You have an enemy and it is not your spouse . . . or child, in-laws, neighbor, cousin, etc.” As soon as I heard that word, I realized how it applies to every relationship, every hurt, injustice and wound we experience here on earth. I began to learn how to apply it when helping my kids through relationship struggles, when my husband and I have a disagreement, when having to confront tense family issues . . ..

Our pastor recently posed a question, “Are we devouring each other instead of loving each other?” We must not be so influenced by our culture that says, “Get even! You have rights! You don’t deserve this!” or by our courts that give us no fault divorces and allow unnecessary lawsuits, that we forget the bigger picture. Galatians 5 perfectly reminds us that we were not given freedom to satisfy human nature by holding grudges, getting even, or to avoid healing, but so we can serve one another in love.

Fill in the blank: I have an enemy and its not ___________!

Come on, just for a minute, stop and think, are you feeling less than enamored by your spouse, holding on to irritation by your children or staying bitter by hurtful words someone has said? Then think of how Satan must be having quite a heyday when he gets a chance to see the division he is creating. The enemy would love to see us stay wounded and isolate ourselves, rather than choosing healing and growth through difficult circumstances.

“The farmer who sows the pure seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the pure seeds are subjects of the kingdom, the thistles are subjects of the Devil, and the enemy who sows them is the Devil.” Matthew 13:37-39 <– The enemy sows the thistles!

Dear Lord, forgive me when I have allowed our culture and selfishness to be my compass and guide. Today, I recommit to seeking a life led by love, first given by you, merciful Father, by sacrificing your son so I could spend eternity with you. I love you, Abba Father, thank you for loving me with an unfathomable, unconditional love. Amen.

 

 

Watch your Mouth

Since our kids were just babies, uninvited advice would come, and it almost always involved some kind of warning about enjoying the moment, because the difficult times were coming. “Oh, the terrible twos–they are coming!” they’d say. Then there was looming doom of the pubescent preteen years and (gasp) the rebellious, torturous teen monster would be the death of us! I can’t lie, my husband and I were shaking in our boots, scared. Then we finally asked ourselves this: Why are we agreeing with certain calamity 10+ years before our children are even close to the “scary years”?

Proverbs 18:1 says that “Death and life are in the power of the tongue…”; and since we believe that Scripture is God-breathed and infallibly true, we decided one day, we must come into alignment with Scripture. From that moment on, we have chosen to encourage other parents and not accept status quo statements spoken about our children’s generation. When negative talk comes, we squelch it with a simple, “Nope, we are not going to agree with hell this far in advance and say we are going to struggle with rebellion.” We know tough times come–Jesus warned us of that–but we choose to speak life over those kids ahead of time!

Today we have two young adults and a teenager. While we do not agree with every decision they make, we look back and are so glad we were careful with our words. Today we speak life over all young people in our influence. We declare this generation is full of world changers, history makers, Jesus lovers, who will continue to spread joy, peace and positive change in this world-gone-crazy. Won’t you join us?

Take some time today to lift up the young people in your life; whether it is your own children, the young barista crafting your latte, or the young man bagging your groceries. Know that you may be the only truth and light being spoken over these precious lives.

Lord, we come together to lift up infants, all the way up to college-aged young adults. We speak destiny and purpose over their lives. When tough choices come their way, may they choose life. Holy Spirit, nudge these kids to stay on their number. We know that ultimately you are writing their testimonies through the highs and lows we all experience from living on earth, so have your way, Lord. We lift these precious ones up to you. Amen.