A New Direction

Someone recently shared this verse with me.  I want to remember it and commit it to my heart and my life.  So often in life we are faced with things that make us want to give up, to lay down in defeat and quit.  But here, we are told to commit WHATEVER you do.  Did you hear me?  WHATEVER.  When we go to work at a job we hate, we need to go AS IF we are working for the Lord, not the boss we can't stand. When we agree halfheartedly to serve on Sunday morning, (admit it, you have all done it), do it AS IF you are doing it for the Lord, not the youth pastor who was in desperate need to fill a slot. When you have a pile of homework (teens) and you feel like there is just no reason to know geometry or physics, do it anyway AS IF for the Lord. When you go to the gym to workout, and your body hurts so bad you can barely move, push through the pain and soreness, AS IF for the Lord. There are so many instances in our lives and I've only mentioned a few, ...

Accountability- I think that word scares people.  If I tell someone my plan, I then have someone to answer to.  I have to follow through now or I will be a failure.  When I trained for my first marathon, I told several people.  I printed a 4 month running schedule, hung it up, and marked each day off.  I was accountable to the calendar but most importantly I was accountable to those I told about the race. I need accountability in my life.  I need someone I can confess to when I eat something I shouldn't.  I need someone to confess to when I do something that is sinful.  I need someone who has been on this journey who can guide and direct me towards my goals and dreams.   An accountability partner should be someone who is trustworthy.  Prov. 20:19  "“A gossip betrays a confidence; so avoid a man who talks too much.” Someone who is always talking about other people’s personal struggles will probably betray you too. So...

Clothe yourselves with beauty that comes from within.  What does that mean?   The world tells us over and over that beauty is thin.   Beauty is designer clothes.   Beauty is having a thigh gap. Beauty is long flowing hair and pearly white teeth. The worlds perception of beauty is outward appearance.  Things that can fade or be destroyed. God's beauty is what is inside.  What does your heart look like? Do you serve others willingly?  Are you loving, thoughtful and kind?  Do you think of others more than yourself? The Bible says:   Believing we are beautiful is not easy for many of us.   God is beautiful, and if we were created in His image, how can we not be beautiful?   God doesn't make mistakes, so how can we justify what we think about ourselves when it doesn't line up with what God says about us? That's a tough question, isn't it?  I admit, I've fallen into the trap of ...

Have you ever prayed and prayed for something and you feel like God doesn't hear  you?  Weeks, months, even years go by and you begin to get frustrated.  Perhaps you even quit praying because you feel like God isn't listening anymore. Its happened to me.  One specific prayer I've prayed for over 10 years now.  That's a long time!  I've tried to answer that prayer on my own, doing things my own way, and its failed.  So, I crawl back to my heavenly Father, ask for forgiveness for trying to exert my will against His, and ask that He not make me wait extra long because of my impatience. There have been times when I think "This is it - He's finally heard me!", only to be let down and realize once again, I was rushing and trying to see an answer where there wasn't one. Have you done this in your prayer life?  Talked and talked and talked to God....but never listened to Him? I sat down this morning, thought about this listening concept, flipped ...

Surrendering is hard.  It hurts sometimes because we have to give up what we want in order to change.  As the picture above says "the intersection between acceptance and change" I accept that I need to change my physical body, so I surrender to the training of someone else in order to affect change. I accept that I need to change my spiritual body, so I surrender to the leading of the Father in order to affect change.  I accept that I need to change my emotional body, so Isurrender the feelings of doubt, insecurity, and failure in order to affect change. Every day we have to surrender, whether we realize it or not.  We see what needs to change in our lives and we are handed the tools to affect that change.  The difference between someone who is stuck and someone who is moving forward is whether they will "surrender" their will to the one who is affecting that change. Is it easy?  NO!  Its hard, it hurts, it can painful and nauseating....

Are cravings good?  or bad? Why do we have them and what can we do about them? I believe God made us to CRAVE....to crave Him. Crave - Something you long for, desire eagerly, and beg for. Generally when someone says they have a craving for something, our minds immediately go to food.  Sugary, fatty, salty, high calorie food.  Why are we so weak against those candy sprinkled, chocolate coated donuts and can turn our noses to what is good for our bodies?  The same question can be asked of our desire to do what we know is wrong instead of doing what is right.  Following our will instead of God's will for our lives.   1 John 2: 15-16  "Do not love the world or anything in the world.  If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in Him.  For everything in the world - the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does - comes not from the Father but from the world". Satan tri...

Today I participated in a fitness class that I thought I was ready for.  I've been in other classes that pushed me to my limit.  This one - this one pushed me PAST my limit. I told the instructor "I need to be uncomfortable.  I will never change if I'm not".  So, he made me as uncomfortable as I've ever been.  I'm sore, tired, banged up and mentally trying to build myself back up before the next class! As I sit here this evening it hit me, God wants us to be uncomfortable.  He wants to push us beyond what we ever thought we could do.  Take us to places we never thought we could go.  Will you listen to Him?  Will you let Christ make you uncomfortable?  Will you say YES to what He wants you to do? Its all about Obedience .  When God calls us to love our neighbors - it can be uncomfortable. When God calls us to witness to a stranger - it can be uncomfortable. When God calls us to go to a foreign land to minister - it c...

Most of us have had them. Most of us have seen them. People taking their eyes off the road and ramming into the person in front of them.  Accidents.  They happen.  We don't' mean for them to happen, but there comes a time in almost everyone's life that we take our eyes off the road for a split second and our lives can change.  Thankfully my first time was without injury and without damage. Our walk with Jesus can be like a fender bender.  Or a blown out collision.  We take our eyes off of Him, get distracted, and we hit a wall.  We think we can do things our way and we take our eyes off of Jesus.  We think we don't need His guidance in our lives, we are fine doing things our own way.  It may seem fine and dandy for awhile, but eventually, we will be on a collision course of His will vs. our will.   He is the author and perfecter of our faith.  HE IS.  Not us.  Hebrews 12:2  " Let us fix our eyes ...

You've heard her story.   You know her plight. Outcast.  Scorned.  Dismissed by society.  Considered dirty and unclean.  She is alone and afraid, cowering in her room away from the glaring eyes of society.  She only comes out at night because the cover of darkness makes her feel safe. Doctors had tried to heal her but for twelve years had failed.  Then a man comes to town.  She hears of his ability to perform miracles.  His kindness and gentleness.  She wants to see Him but shes not supposed to go around others in her condition.  Touching her makes them 'unclean'.  Who cares!!! I'm tired of living this way.  I know if I could just touch his clothes, He will heal me.  That's all I need, just a touch.  So, she covers her head and tries to blend into the crowd.  He stops to speak, touch, hug, heal others.  She's almost there.  So close.  Then, on her knees she is able to touch the...

For too long God's people have listened to the enemy.  He whispers to us when we are most vulnerable "you are never going to get better"  "You will never find the man or woman of your dreams"  "You will never get out of debt"  "Your life doesn't matter" But God's word says differently.  Why do we listen to the creator of lies when we have a Heavenly Father ready and able to give us all He has promised in His word? 2 Peter 1:4   "And because of His glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises.  These are promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world's corruption cause by human desires". How awesome is that?  He has GIVEN us great and precious promises.  Not just a few of us.  Not just the good looking people, or the healthy people, or the wealthy people.  HE has given those promises to all of us. So why aren't we walking in them? Is it because we haven't ...

Have you ever sat down to pray or read the Bible and you keep getting distracted?  You can't shut off your brain and instead of praying you think about the laundry, what someone said to you that day that upset you, your schedule for tomorrow, etc. How do you quiet your mind so you can meditate on the word of the Lord?  How do you learn to listen to that still small voice if everything else is screaming inside your head?  How do you learn to "be still"? Its not easy.  Being still.  We live in a world where we are bombarded with "noise makers".  TV, Radio, Internet, Smart Phones, I pods, Video games...the list of noise makers is endless.  Its become uncommon for someone to sit in a quiet room.  The first question is "Why don't' you have the TV on?"  "Why are you sitting in the room with nothing on?".  I'm sure God would love to have even a fraction of the time we spend on those things.  We say we don't have time to pray, ...

Did you see it?  That moment that almost passed you by. Did you feel it?  That touch of God on your life that breezed thru your soul. Did you taste it?  The sweet, tenderness of the one who loves you more than you can imagine. God Incidences.  Moments in our days that come and surprise us, mesmerize us, captivate us.  Did you miss them? or did you see, feel and taste God's sweet touch on your life? We all have them.  Moments that are so hard to explain away as coincidences that we realize God is actually present in our daily lives.  A text out of the blue from an old friend that you've lost touch with, telling you she was thinking about you and misses you.  A word from someone that changes your outlook on your day, your life.  A friend who lets you know that God put you on their heart and they are praying for you, even when they don't know what your needs are.  Or the unexpected blessing that shows up at just the right moment...

Its happened a lot lately, to a lot of people.  They got stuck.  Roads are icy and snow covered.  You try to drive forward and you get stuck.  You try to go back the way you came, and you can't move.  We start digging, trying to free ourselves, but our wheels just keep turning to no avail.  What we need is help.  A push.  A good hearty SHOVE!  and then we can be on our way, on our path again. Last night my son and I were on our way home from visiting a friend who just had a new baby.  What a joy!  He's healthy, mom is healthy and glowing.  She's on her path.  She has direction and now that he's here, she can move forward.  She is no longer stuck.  She's been freed from the spinning wheels of a pregnancy that seems to never end (admit it, towards the end we all feel that way!) and is now freed to mother and nurture this baby she has carried for 9 months.   As we pulled into our subdivision, I saw...

She laid there in her hospital bed.  Weak.  Frail.  Near the end of her days. I was young.  19 at most.  She was my heart.  The one I cherished and loved.  I would spend summers with her and share her bed.  In the early mornings I would lay and listen to her talk about how much she loved me.  How pretty my smile was.  I grew up and went to college and she would write me letters and tell me how proud she was.  I went to her bedside to see her, this woman I cherished.  I held her hand and we laughed some.  She told me she was proud of me and to do good in school.  Then, as I bend down to kiss her cheek she whispers in my ear "You would be so pretty if you would just lose weight".  Even now, writing this, those words pierce me.  An arrow to my heart.  My grandmother.  Trying to encourage me, I know, but wounding me instead with her words.  She will never know the depth of pain I felt...

  Outside a storm is building.  Large white flakes of snow will fall fast and furious as the day progresses.  It will cover our dirty world in a coat of white, covering all the gray, dirt, and bareness with a blanket of beauty.  Many see this as a hindrance in their life, a mess that needs to be cleaned up.  I see it in a different way. Inside our hearts and our minds we have storms building.  Stress, disappointment, discouragement, anger, frustration, abandonment.  The list could go on.  The storm builds and builds inside of us as it does outside, ready to explode in a flurry of activity.  Outside we see winds howling and blowing, but what is going on inside?  Is your heart racing from the fear of being found out?  That someone will see who you truly are? That you are fighting a storm inside that would rival what is going on outside? We all face these storms.  You are not alone.  But, like the blanket of whit...

Have you ever wondered what the will of God is?  Ever thought "If I just knew what He wanted me to do, then I would have direction in my life".  His word tells us what His will is for us.  It is to "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing and in EVERYTHING give thanks". Joyful?  How? In this economy, with this weather, with my struggles and issues.  How can I be joyful?  Many of us think that joy is something we get from our circumstances.  If life is good and going my way I will be joyful.  No.  Joy is a choice we make.  In spite of what bad may be going on around us, choose to be joyful.  Its God's will for us. Prayerful?  Pray without ceasing.  Who has time for that?  I can't sit and pray constantly, I have work to do, kids to feed, laundry that needs finished, bills to pay, etc.  When you read pray without ceasing, you picture yourself in a state of prayer all day.   Pray without ceasing - wh...

As I sat and watched everyone wish Happy New year last night, it hit me that every year we wish the same things....to make it the best year, to do more, be more, love more, serve more...and then as the year winds down, we can't wait for the year to end so we can start all over again with the same resolutions.  Is it because we feel we failed the previous year and want a do over?  Or is it because we stayed committed and can't wait to continue the work God is doing through us?  I know we all go through experiences each year and at that magical moment of Midnight - that moment between old and new - we have a glimmer of hope.  Hope that we can get it right this time.  Hope that what plagued us in the old won't follow us into the new.  What really strikes me at that moment is I have a choice to make.  I hold the key to what the blank page of my future says. My decisions, my actions or in-actions, my tenacity or my wavering.  So much of w...