Bring on the Burn!

Though He was His Son, yet he learned obedience by the things which he suffered. (Hebrews 5:8)

It never occurred to me that Jesus would ever have a problem with obedience or that He would even have to learn it. After all, was He not God? Yes, He was but He was also made into a man with fleshly desires and temptations  just like us, but yet, He was the example to us that we could overcome with the help of His father.

Life will bring suffering. No two ways about it! Sometimes suffering can come through our own poor choices and other times, not. Just like Jesus, the poor man had to die because of our sin! Now that is not fair!  However, we can allow the trials we endure help us in the end. Even Jesus had to learn about obedience, just as we do.  God uses our suffering to help teach us more about the importance of His Word and the power of obedience to it. Jesus understood that His obedience would bring about change in ways we will never fully understand. He was sold out to pleasing His Father and sold out to Love, to the point of death! Love is not feelings but rather obedience to God's word! Obedience carries power to change us and the atmosphere around us.

Even today, as I look into this nation's political scene, I am grieved at how far we have missed the mark by not honoring God in some specific areas and now we are paying the price for it through our economy , etc. Hopefully, at some point we will wake up and learn from our mistakes, but only when we choose to follow God's word. Until then, we will continue to suffer until we learn to honor God through obedience to His will for this nation.

For me, personally  I have suffered in my life through my own poor choices and circumstances that I had no control over. I have learned that no matter what life throws at me, I will benefit most by RESPONDING  with obedience.

In a way it reminds me of exercising. I hate doing it but I know it is a discipline that benefits me. Especially when running, my legs and lungs burn like crazy, but in the end, I know the temporary suffering will bring on lasting change....So, do I dare say, "Bring on the burn!"...surely not, but suffering in life, can feel like we are being burned. However, if we choose to look at in a way of teaching us obedience which in the end leads to blessing, why not let it burn!

Today, as you go about your day, ask the Lord what He might be needing you to learn through your suffering or trial. Is there a powerful truth He wants to pass onto you so that you can truly walk in the fullness of His blessing ? It could possibly change your life, better yet your circumstances... Obedience is far better than sacrifice!!  Be willing to repent if you have missed the mark, we all do at times, no one is perfect. But more so, be willing to receive His grace for you and know that you are loved .

From the Heart Moment....

Lately, God has been dealing with me on how to love His way. To be quite honest with you, I haven’t been doing so well! Some days are better than others.  In fact, I am finding more and more just how weak I am with it. I would like to say that because I am a Christian that it is the one thing I do best, but unfortunately it is the one thing I am tested on the most! By the way, you can’t study for these tests given by God. He seems to give pop quizzes when you least expect it with the people you least expect to have a problem loving!

What more is there to say but that I need a lot more homework! However, I choose to look on the brighter side because when you are a Child of God, there is ALWAYS a brighter side!

I have made the choice to love through the hurt because that is when it counts the most! It is about giving up my emotions, feelings or rights and choosing to move past myself and love anyways. Is it easy, NO! Do I want to LOVE all the time, uh… NO! It is easier for me to love myself more because I am an expert at it!-lol  But obedience is far greater than sacrifice any day! This is at least what I am learning…slowly!

Love is not an emotion. God’s love is about being obedient to His word. It leaves you challenged and beyond yourself and desperately needing HIS help in the end!  Sometimes I am not always willing to align my emotions to God’s love and rather choose to serve myself that day instead of God.

As you can imagine, my altar gets torn down very quickly.For some reason, I keep finding the pieces and re-assembling that darn thing!-lol

What am I learning these days? Well, first of all, I need God to help me love because I don’t have it in me to love without His help! Secondly, I need to bow the knee to the process of allowing the refining fire to burn at just the right temperature so that I don’t have to stay here too long!-lol.  Thirdly, this is God’s work and not my own work! Lord knows that I don’t have the power to change this heart of mine, only He does. I have learned that I can’t trust my heart and that is why I need to be placing it on the altar of grace daily. More like placing it on the altar and stomping  like grapes to get a good wine to come forth!-  At the very least, it is humbling to admit but at the same time, it is empowering too because I am being stretched to a new level of love and grace that I could not get to on my own.  Where I am weak, He is strong! God loves me enough to take me higher, from glory to glory is what they say! For me,  it is more like from just day to day!

My life is in His hands. It always has been and always will be. Sure, I can choose to move out of His path for awhile because I don’t want to deal with the process but I have learned quickly that it does me no good to stray. In fact,  it just keeps me held back longer.  I just need to get over myself! Wish it were that easy!-lol

I look forward to the day when I don’t struggle with all this “junk” in me! I look forward to the day when all my tears will be wiped away. However, there is joy and peace within me because I know God is at work! Isn’t He always? Really, isn’t this about the Kingdom and not me?

 In the mean time, I will just keep moving on, keeping my head up.  I will choose not to let people or life bring me down. I will not be brought down by the cares of this world or by my circumstances but rather   be made by them instead!  Recently, I read, “A True warrior is made in the heat of battle!” I simply loved that! When the going gets tough, I will choose to stand firm in my faith and fight and NOT get going!!! I am soldier for Christ!

I have a purpose in this life and I will do whatever it takes to fulfill it with God’s help. I will not be distracted by the everyday but be attracted to God’s promises over my life! I know WHOM I will serve this day- do you?

The Joy of the Redeemed!

It's not even December yet and Christmas decorations are already out! Goodness....It is a little early, but here is my stance on the holidays for this year:)

The Joy of the Redeemed

As a child, I remember Christmas being a time when the world appeared to be magical and peaceful.  I enjoyed driving through neighborhoods with my family, seeing the bright holiday lights and manger scenes of Jesus.  Let’s not forget the Norman Rockwell moments where the family would gather around our warm fireplace, drink eggnog and laugh while the old episode of Charlie Brown and his wimpy Christmas tree played in the background.  Last but not least, midnight mass was the final “hoorah” before the jolly fat man in the red suit squeezed down the chimney bearing gifts.  Life didn’t get much better for that naïve, brown-eyed girl who believed that joy only came once a year in the form of presents and man-made tradition.

Thankfully, as God would have it, I have been redeemed from childhood fantasies, and I have replaced them with lasting joy in the form of a Savior who is willing to celebrate with me all year round, whether or not I get put on the naughty list! My honor for Jesus will not be limited to just an annual Christmas card but rather rejoiced daily.  The beautiful Christmas lights I saw as a child are now replaced with the joy lit in my heart as I celebrate the coming King who will one day take me as His bride to a wonderland far better than any Macy’s parade could ever display!

Goodbyes

Scarlett lay staring at the red glowing numbers in the darkness.  Three -thirty a.m. glared back at her  screaming silently, “You have only 3 more hours left with your husband before he leaves!”   Her heart sank as she took a deep breath trying to hold back the tears.  She knew if she cried now, she wouldn't stop.  Besides, she had to pull it together and be strong for her husband and children. After all, she was an Army wife! "Suck it and drive on" was her motto through deployments.  Deployments were a way of life, inevitable, an almost dreaded sentence if you will.  Scarlett just wanted this day to end. The next 15 months needed to fly by! Silently, she told herself, “The sooner he leaves, the sooner he gets back!”  However, no matter how many times she repeated this, she knew that it was never easy to say good bye and let her husband go. Her job was to try and mottle herself and her family thru the next few hours with a face of bravery. 

 

Brett,  interrupted her thoughts as he turned towards her in the bed.  “You okay?” he asked.  She swallowed hard before answering, “I will be.”  She said quietly.  Brett wrapped his arms around her.  She snuggled deep into his chest.  She could hear his heart beating as he held her.  The tears began to fall and she quietly said a prayer asking God to please not let this be the last time he would hold her.  Her emotions began to flood out of her. She almost felt guilty at first because it was Brett who had the right to be scared, after all, he was the one going to war in a foreign country!  But for some reason all she could do was be selfish.  Brett stroked her hair and wiped her tears as they fell.  He said nothing and that was exactly what she wanted to hear, nothing. 

As a military wife, I have lived this scene on a few occasions.  It starts with the months counting down once the orders for deployment have come in. Then comes the weeks and finally the hours. You begin to go into what I call "stealth" mode or survival mode because you have to. As military wives we are thrown into the unknown and expected to deal with it, but let's face it- it's not fun! My advice for those of you facing a deployment is to trust God to see you through it, ONE DAY AT A TIME!! Trust Him with your emotions and know you are not alone. You will survive. Realize that your sacrifice means a lot and it effects more people then you realize. Sometimes we can get so focused on our circumstances that we lose sight of the importance of the bigger picture. You are helping change lives! There is always a greater work at hand! 

Jesus had a Kingdom mindset. He understood that His  daily circumstances were just a small piece of the puzzle.  He knew His purpose and was able to embrace it and know that His sacrifice was greater then Himself.  We too need to come out of our circumstances  and  "Arise!"  For those of you facing a deployment and are in the midst of one, thank you for your sacrifice! Please know that you are not alone. My prayer is that God will comfort you in those lonely nights, long days with the kids and more so on those days you need your husband's love. I pray that God will meet your daily needs and then some:)

Be strong and Courageous!

Rock On!

"Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts." (1 Chronicles 16:9)

 Ever see a person driving down the road enjoying the music in their car with their heads bobbing back and forth and their mouths singing a mile a minute? Well, I love watching people who do that! Maybe because it takes one to know one.

Ever have one of those "Rock" or worship  sessions in the car by yourself with God? Well, I live for them! I found myself this afternoon in the car alone(very RARE moment) turning up the music and singing to my hearts content. I always love sitting at traffic lights and noticing the looks on people's faces when you are abandoned in worship to the Lord. I can only imagine that I look like a middle aged crazy woman strung out on God knows what! Believe me, my arms get to flailing around and I think I am Mariah Carey or some great music artist who has just hit the pinnacle of her career! Thank God, noone can really hear how awful I really sing! I will stick with my day job, I am no fool!  I can only imagine God gets a chuckle or two himself, but you know what, He loves it and I LOVE Him!

I don't care that I look like a crazed soul on the road and that my neighbors might think I am going through a mid-life crisis with the volume turned up in my car as I drive oblivious to the people around me. I will choose to "Rock On!"......In the Spirit realm , I am the next great praise Artist!

It doesn't matter how you praise, just do it! Have you "Rocked" to the Lord today? If so, what was your song about?