Getting Through the Tunnel

Have you ever crawled through a tunnel?

Most of the time it's dark, and you have to navigate around turns, sometimes bumps and in order to keep your self from absorbing the darkness and freaking out, you have to keep your mind set on your goal, your purpose, your immediate task- to get out.

Life can be like that sometimes.  Things happen, the stress of life:  finances, careers or the overwhelming sickness of a family member, a child or even your self...... Darkness creeps in like the fog does in San Fransisco making everything darker covered, blurred.

The tunnel gets dark, and as you begin to look around you get anxious, scared, and you even wonder why did I get in this tunnel, how did I get here, can I turn around,  do I have a choice,  what is the best way out?
If you sit there and concentrate on all this and you don't concentrate on moving, and getting out where your focus should be, then you will become anxious.  Your flight or fight mode will kick in and you will either make a plan or allow the darkness to overcome you. You might even have a panic attack thinking about all those things, when all you really need to do is get moving, concentrate on your task at hand and remember your immediate goal and purpose.

If you concentrate on your immediate goal, eventually you will see the light at the end and that will give you even more motivation to continue.

Life is kinda like the tunnel. You can sit with it and concentrate on the walls coming in around you or the fog, or the darkness, or the situation that you might be in. The situation seems overwhelming and it may be hard to even think about what you need to do, but right now at this moment, on this day - look for the light and if it isn't there, trust what you know.

If you know God-  trust that he will give you the tools you need to get out of this dark place, that he will clear the fog,  that he will help you navigate and move and go toward your goal. Even if the darkness is there, even if there are days you feel traumatized, stunned, paralyzed, go back to what you know.  Trust in the one who will be your helper, your refuge, your strength. Set goals, and make up your mind to navigate, with His help, through this dark place to find the light.

If you don't know God and all you can think of or see are the walls all around, or all you can do is sit and cry.  Maybe you are even sitting in the darkness paralyzed, stunned by life, caught up in the hurt, drama, emotion and are in crisis mode.
If you are in this place, ask him now to come to you, to come into your heart, and fill your heart and mind with his presence, with His love and with His Hope.

At the end of the day, focus on the hope of the light.

"The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it". John 1:5

Intoxication with Christ

The opposite of being intoxicated with Christ is being intoxicated with the world. Not literally intoxicated with the world, but in a sense of self, pride of life, captains of our ships, and free will.

We all think of alcohol or drugs when we think intoxication. The dictionary defines it like this:

Intoxication

1. inebriation; drunkenness.

2. an act or instance of intoxicating.

3. overpowering exhilaration or excitement of the mind or emotions.

The world can be intoxicating and interesting.

We become so intoxicated with the world that we allow (yes I said allow) our carnal indulgent self to seek satisfaction and validation in the world and of the world and before long the enemy has crept in and we are no longer sober minded but fully intoxicated by the world. We are so completely caught up in it that sometimes we do not even realize that we left our first love.
We don't realize the beauty of becoming intoxicated with Christ and his love. We are blinded by the world and cannot see what we are missing until we are at a low point and then bam ..... we see it and we see our brokenness and our failures.

Overpowering, exhilaration, excitement of the mind and emotions with the world, and the things in the world of the world and worldly things.

Self control comes from a greek word that means sound mind or even the same as brakes on a car.

Self control is a virtue that with God's help we can accomplish and live with it.
I said with His help because you must study, pray and stay in His word to achieve this and in this you are being watchful.  Watchful of your actions, watchful for HIM in your life, to come on the scene and sustain you. Watchful for the enemy and ready to send him away.

So I want to ask you today to become so intoxicated with Christ that you put on the whole armor of God.  You are watchful and in control with dignity, poise and an inner peace that no one can take away.

But watch yourselves, or your hearts will be weighed down by dissipation, drunkenness, and the worries of life—and that day will spring upon you suddenly like a snare. Luke 21:34

Life is short, find peace, Find Christ.....

On Being Gentle

Have you ever seen a grown man hold or care for a baby?

There is a gentleness there that we notice. That melts a heart.

What does the virtue gentleness mean? Well,  it is an action of self-control of speaking, and acting in a certain way which is considerate and kind to others.

Being gentle means being careful.

We teach our children at a young age to be gentle to babies, be gentle to small animals, but do we continue to teach them to be gentle with people and feelings?

Humans are sensitive by nature. Feelings are the most fragile and are intimately connected to each person. Things that hurt you may not be things that hurt the next person, we are all so unique and different, the way God intended.

You cannot just say one day" I am going to be more gentle", I mean you can and you can work on it.  To be successful,  is to make it a habit of responding to conflict, and critics and drama with love. You do this by self control.  When others raise their voice, you can lower yours. In parenting, in marriage, in church, at work. That may be hard, but it can be done. Let your answers disarm the other person and diffuse the situation!


" A gentle answer turns away wrath but a harsh word stirs up anger" ( Prov. 15:1)
Jesus Christ is the perfect example of gentleness. When he lives within you, you have been given what you need to perfect this virtue, but like any virtue, you have to engross yourself in HIM to be more like him, by praying, reading the Bible and trusting Him.

When you respond under pressure with gentleness it is a great testament to the world who you belong to.  I have heard it said that how one responds under pressure is their true self.

Gentleness communicates love, the more gentle you become, the more Christ- like you become, and the more at rest you will be.

Driven

" and when the ship was caught, and could not face the wind, we gave way [to it,] and were driven". Acts 27:15

Have you ever been driven by a storm in your life? Are you being caught up right now by the force winds and driven?  As this storm drives you are you coasting along? are you fighting it? are you allowing it to beat you down, thus, making you want to quit?

You see when times are hard in our life, we often want to escape. The stress gets unbearable and our flight or fight kicks in and we start to abandon our values and we get into self preservation mode.

God says stay.

Stay with the ship, sit this storm out, the winds may be driving you right now but they will not last, it will pass, hold on tight, fight.
It is never God's will to run from a difficult situation. He never promised easy. He did promise His love, His presence and His Hope !
If you are constantly running, you will never develop the character or grow like God wants you to.

When you go through the storm it is not entirely based on what happens to you ( as life isn't) but what happens in you.
How you respond to storms, winds, and turmoil develops your character and your character is your destiny.

You can choose to concentrate on the bad, on the hurt, on the pain or you can use it for HIM.

Use it !!
There are so many people suffering. They may be scared to share, scared to talk about it and they may just need someone like you to open the door. Confession is sooo good for the soul and YOU may be the catalyst to help someone else open up and share.

Just imagine how very important you are and how your journey can help someone else!!

So buckle down, the winds of the storm might be driving you, but this storm, and wind will pass.

A Flawed But Beautiful Bride

You are a bride.... 
Beautiful in God's eyes, adorned, free, glowing!

"For your husband is your Maker, Whose name is the LORD of hosts; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel, Who is called the God of all the earth" Isaiah 54:5

We are on our way to HIS Kingdom! 

We may travel rough roads, endure hardships and sometimes even fail Him

But, we have a rock, a refuge to lean upon as our bridegroom is Christ and he is omnipotent, omnipresent and loving. 

We don't have to hide or wear masks. 

We may think we do, we think if our lives don't measure up to others, (kids act out or misbehave, we mismanage our money, we don't keep our house the cleanest, we make poor career decisions, or we are too career oriented, we may be introverted or too loud and outspoken... the list goes on) We feel different, we hide and often feel like we must put on a mask to "fit in". In reality we all fall short, we all struggle in some form and we are in this journey together! 

If we lived our life handing grace and acceptance out like candy, how much better other's would feel around us. 

Human nature is  a funny thing and really we just want to be accepted and loved for who we are.

So we don't have to feel like we never measure up because HE knows our deepest thoughts, the number of hairs on our head and he created us in His image. 

What we feel like might be flaws, he sees as unique and beautiful. After all we are His bride!

He sees the beauty. He loves us. 

So like a bride, we should stand brave and beautiful and even in awe at this kind of beauty.

This kind of beauty cannot be found on TV or in magazines or even in the sweetest novel love story. 

This kind of beauty can only be found in true love.... God's love

Love is beauty and Beauty is love. 

"God is working right now to make all things beautiful at this very moment. Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end" Etc 3:11 

On Being a MisFit

  I have often felt like I was different than others, there have been circumstances in my life and situations I have been in that made me feel like a misfit in this world.

As I have gotten older, I realize how very different we all are and how there really is no such thing as normal.  I am happy with myself and realize that my characteristics and personality are what God gave me( well some innate and some derived from my environment growing up) but they are mine, they are me and God wants to use this misfit to help others feel that being different is okay !

Normal is how well someone can appear to look like someone else. Normal is the fad, the accepted things that are in the present, but the word "normal" is such an anomaly.  It is inconsistent as the winds of change. I will give you some examples. Tatoos used to have a strong stigma, now they are the new norm and perfectly accepted.  Marijuana used to have a strong stigma, now it's ok for some.  People used to dress up to go to church or wear their best, now it's come as you are. So normal is fleeting and changing all the time. The other day I walked by a cigar lounge called Stogies. I saw women sitting around smoking cigars and I thought to myself, is this the new normal?  LOL, Normal changes day to day.

Who is the first person that comes to mind when you think of an outcast in history?

Jesus Christ

He ate with tax collectors, upset the money changers in the church, and ate and interacted with many unpopular sick, maimed, even demon possessed individuals. All of this was quite unpopular and abnormal. The Pharisees questioned this and felt that it wasn't right, it was abnormal.
Jesus responded with:

"I have not come to call not those who think they are righteous but those who know they are sinners" Matt 9:13

He ultimately was the greatest misfit and outcast of all time.

He did this so that we could understand and see that being different is okay, and to understand the word mercy through his works. 

Mercy is giving people what they need and not what they deserve.
Yeah that is what Jesus did and ultimately what he did on the cross.

But let's break it down and think about it today.
Giving people what they need......
That outcast needs a kind word.  It is practicing a little empathy, and mindfulness. It is realizing that the person in your life that feels like a thorn in your side, is hurting and needs special care and a little mercy.
We must show mercy to those who have doubts. One must be more interested in people and their salvation than they are at winning an argument. Jude 1:22 -23 "Show mercy to those who have doubts" You cannot love your neighbor as yourself without being merciful.

Mercy is loving the unpopular.  Roman's 13:10 says:

"Love fulfills the requirements of God's law." 

So God has made you misfit, abnormal, different .... for a reason.  He wants you to extend mercy and love to the unloved, to the misfits, to the different so that those who have doubts will have hope.

Simple. Try it.

The Author of the Play

She said " I will probably get cast as a tea cup, but I will play that part well, and be the best tea cup ever" 

These were the words spoken by my little theater child.  In theater, actors, especially those broadway actors are so very happy to play any part. Have you ever seen the Lion King and how even the gazelles dance around like they are having the time of their life. Like their very part is the most important....

Funny how we live our lives like our part is the most important, but not in the sense of being a character in a play but being the author of our life.

We feel like our career, our family, our children, our home, our cars, our circle of friends, must resemble that of Hollywood. ... I look around and I see all these people looking as if they are living a minimalist life or they are striving to, yet they are definitely trying with all their might, and strength to keep up with the 'Jones' but more importantly show up the Jones' family.

So I was reminded this morning that we are merely characters in this life, not the author-
Just as 1Cor 12:1-27 discusses, we are merely the sum of parts....

 God is the author.

Are you allowing God to author your life? Or have you decided that yours is the most important part? Have you decided well I am going to finish this story how I want .....

I want to ask you today, to turn to Him and seek what he wants for your life.

Ask yourself these three things

1. What am I doing to glorify God daily and am I spending time with HIM?

2. Who am I blessing or showing His light to? Or who can see His light in me on the daily?

3. What action/work/ help/ am I doing to further God's Kingdom on the daily?
(though works are not required or even expected, when you are off the milk as a baby and on the meat as an adult Christian-    you will WANT to do works for God)

I want to ask you are you trying to author your destiny or playing God's part, the one he assigned you? And if so, are you playing it to best of your ability? no matter how small?

Rejection

These words resonated in my heart and mind as I read them.

I thought about how rejection feels.

Being in the ministry, rejection is a feeling or emotion experienced often.

Often people will try out our church or come for a while and decide it's not for them or "we aren't the right fit." So over the last four years I have lost count on how many times I have heard that statement.

I try not to take it personal but really it is personal, but I give it to God and go on.

Growing up, I was very sensitive, always getting my feelings hurt, wearing my feelings on my sleeve, and just sensitive.  Well life gave me the exposure I needed to get over it.

Then I became a nurse and let me tell you my skin thickened even more. So I would say I have pretty thick skin, So I guess God thinks I can take the rejection required to be his servant.

But as I was reading the verse of the day today, I was reminded of a promise from God - that Christ will never reject us and that was the heart therapy that I needed this morning.

"However, those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them." John 6:37

Isn't it wonderful to be in God's family. To feel acceptance and the love of the Father.  When I read this my heart was pricked into thanksgiving, and I thought about all the people in my life who love me so much. The true friends who don't just say let me do something, but just do something for me when times are hard, there are so many people out there that honestly let God and love guide them and it is amazing. I am so blessed.

More importantly, the scripture above is a promise that once you are in God's family, He will never reject you..... it says "those who come to me".......  Again a choice you have to make, to come to HIM but He will not reject you.

So I ask you today, have you come to HIM or are you rejecting HIM?

Holding on to Heart Truth

This morning I sit here and contemplate,  is a physical sickness worse or mental illness and battlefield of the mind? 
 Either way,  they are both bad, any sickness is bad, and will bring you to your knees. When your physical is brought low often your emotions and mental psyche are brought low, but often when your battle is the mind or mental illness the physical doesn't matter because the mind will often over rule any and all other systems. The heart is stronger but one must realize it is and find that truth in their mind. They must want that truth. 

I sit here knowing that both the physical body and the mind are so vital to living, to life and how everything we do kinda revolve around the other. 

When one or both are in jeopardy we suffer, we cry, we get frustruated.  We are in the fire and we wonder if we are made out of enough 'Stuff' to endure that fire. 
I often think of the story of the silversmith- The Refiner's fire : 

As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities. The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says: ‘He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.’ (Malachi 3:3) She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed. The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, ‘How do you know when the silver is fully refined?’ He smiled at her and answered, ‘Oh, that’s easy — when I see my image in it.’

That story doesn't answer why little children get sick, why people hurt, why people are depressed or suicidal or angry at the world. I realize that, however God wants us to allow him to refine us, he wants us to find the heart truth,  he wants us to hold on to him as he carries us and though we only see one set of foot prints in the sand, he is carrying us and we have to hold on tight. 

You are made of enough stuff to withstand the heat, the fire and the pain. You feel like you are not strong enough but you are-  dig deep, take care of your immediate physical being - get sleep, eat and take a minute or more to pray to lean,  to hope, because in the end,  HE, our Father is and always will be the answer of hope, the steadfast refuge and strong tower to lean upon, to hold on to. This life, this journey is but a vapor and gone, the bigger vast infinitude is the here after and the hereafter or  this life after- is and will be amazing. 
Paul says  " I live for that prize".
Hang on, hold on, remember he is carrying you right now. ~Abba

The Hope of 2018

I can remember an invitation to go to the World Fair when I was younger.  I had heard about it and read about it and was so very excited. I even raised money to go. My grandmother helped me, she crocheted little hair ties and I sold them at school and around my neighborhood.

Well when the time came to go, the family member that invited me could not go and I was left deflated and disappointed. I was so very disappointed and maybe at a vulnerable age that often after that I was skeptical that anything good would ever happen to me. I often did not get excited over invites, until I was on my way or in the car to go.

As I say farewell to 2017 and it's heartaches but also some great times, I welcome the hope of 2018.

I didn't really make resolutions, but in my heart of hearts I resolved to spend more time with my girls, and to be healthier.  I also have a plan of how to make that happen, so maybe we could call them resolutions.

Anyway I was reading my devotion this morning and as I read Rick Warren pen the importance of committing to God, I thought- I am committed to God. I have given up homes, jobs,  and even some hopes and dreams to try and fulfill the great commission. I have known loss and hurt because of his service and missed out on so very much with my family to do God's work to be where I thought I was supposed to be for HIM.  As I made my list in my head. I was reminded that even all that is still not enough, it's not some magical recipe to do ENOUGH. It's not about the loss or the hurt. It's about staying committed. It's about making a choice everyday.

Though the end of 2017 has been harder than I would have liked and though there is still a mountain to climb, my story is not over. I have hopes, I have dreams and I serve a God that will help me and wants the best for me as an individual. He is in control and though I have said it many many times this last month I have to believe it. I have to stay committed and in HIS WILL. Noah had a project that lasted for 120 years that required him to be faithful and to keep hope in his heart to get him through.

As I look forward to 2018, I have hope in my heart. I know that my God will sustain me and keep me and though I do not have privy to know how my story ends, God knows and he has given me the tools and the hope in my heart to live each day committed to Him and for Him and in His service.

I want to challenge you this 2018 to exercise your faith and trust in God and do something for him, work for him, enlist in HIS service, we do so much to serve ourselves, I want to challenge you to do do something intentional for Him- commit to something for HIM and see your blessings flow. The Bible says that God is always on alert and looking for people who are committed to him (2Chronicles 16:9).

If you don't know God and you wonder what this hope is, try Him today, commit your life to Him, get to know Him through His word the Bible and see how your life changes for the better.

God is the hope of 2018 and He can be your hope too.