Taste and See

I memorized this scripture when I was a little girl, but I’m not sure I completely grasped it’s meaning back then.

What does it mean to delight yourself?

What is the desire of your heart? The key to obtaining it is to delight yourself in the Lord. Funny thing though. It seems that once you start delighting yourself in Him, your desires change a little. Pretty soon, all you want is more of Him and everything else becomes trivial!

I guess that’s why Psalm 34:8 says

Have you tasted of His goodness lately?

Beautiful Things

One of the coolest things about God is that He takes things that are broken

and makes them beautiful

He takes things that are shattered 

and makes them spectacular.

Things that are destroyed

and makes them extraordinary.

He also takes lives that are damaged

and completely restores them

 

One of the coolest things about ministry? Sometimes, I get to be a part of His process.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 ¹¹ He has made everything beautiful in its time……….

Balancing act

So, it’s been a couple of months since I’ve blogged. Well since I’ve actually posted a blog. I’ve written a bunch in my head, but I guess that doesn’t actually count does it?

My usually busy life seems to have been even busier lately, and I looked around a few weeks ago and realized that I was definitely not being balanced. It kind of felt like I was juggling while walking a tightrope. Either something was gonna get dropped or I was gonna fall!

My house was a wreck, my kids were tired from being on the go, I was behind on half of my projects that needed to be completed at the office, and I was feeling completely unsettled. Ever been there? (Unfortunately I have, all too often)

I have a bad habit of thinking I can fix everything. That if I’m out of whack, that I can just shift a few things around and it will make it better. And that usually works…. for a little while, then I find myself right back in the same position again. You know what they say- 

After some soul-searching, I came to some conclusions about the things I need to do  in order to maintain sanity in my life.

1) Above all else, make sure that I am spending time with God every day. When I’m on point in my relationship with Him, everything else just seems to work out.

2) Make sure I’m showing my husband how much I love him. When I go out of my way to give him my full attention even when I’m tired, all is right in our world.

3)Take the time to focus on my kids. Whether it’s reading a book or working on flashcards with my younger two, or talking about my older daughter’s day with her, it is important that I give them my time and attention. I’ve also been focusing on working on good habits, like making sure they clean up their rooms and make their beds everyday. All the while teaching them to “Honor their father and mother so that they will have good success and have long life on the earth”

4) Take an entire day and clean my house from top to bottom. Then do whatever it takes to make sure it stays that way. When I come home and know that I have 50 loads of laundry to put away, or that I really need to clean the kitchen, I just feel frazzled when I don’t get to it. There is something calming about coming home to a clean house that only needs minimal attention rather than a complete overhaul. And then I can actually focus on those projects that I’ve had hanging over my head, ie. cleaning out the kids closets, organizing the kitchen, planting those flowers in my front yard. Well, two out of three isn’t bad. Lord knows my thumb is definitely not green! the bottom line is 15 minutes of maintenance a day saves 8 hours of cleaning on the weekend!

5) Exercise regularly. I’m toying with the idea of entering a half marathon in a few months, so this one should be easy. Over the past year I’ve really gotten into running and it really clears my head. I do have to keep this in balance too though so that it doesn’t become my focus.

6) Treat myself to frozen yogurt at least once a week! Just because I like frozen yogurt, especially with some berries and a little bit of marshmallow sauce on top!

Ecclesiastes 9:8-10 in the Message Bible says

Dress festively every morning. Don’t skimp on colors and scarves. 
 Relish life with the spouse you love Each and every day of your precarious life. 
 Each day is God’s gift. It’s all you get in exchange For the hard work of staying alive. Make the most of each one! 
 Whatever turns up, grab it and do it. And heartily! This is your last and only chance at it,  For there’s neither work to do nor thoughts to think 
In the company of the dead, where you’re most certainly headed.

I can’t promise I won’t fall off the balance wagon at some point, but I do promise I’m going to try really hard not to. We only get one chance at this life, and I want to make sure that I don’t waste it being overwhelmed because of the choices I have made.

What do you do to maintain balance in your life?

He Is Bigger

Yesterday I was talking to my dad about a situation, and I made the statement, “I know it may get pretty messy, but…”

My Dad stopped me and said, “I don’t receive that. Pretty sure if God shut the mouths of a bunch of lions, that He can make this smooth and easy, He can change the heart of a person” (Or something like that, I’m paraphrasing)

Later on, at Bible School in the midst of my class, as I was talking about Shadrach, Meschach and Abednego I really got it.  The God I serve is BIG! I mean, really BIG! Not only did He shut the mouths of a den of lions, and make sure that three guys who got thrown into a fiery furnace didn’t even have one hair singed, He parted a sea so that a whole nation could walk through the middle of it, He made dead people live, lame people walk and blind people see. Not only that, it says in Isaiah 40:12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand,
Measured heaven with a span And calculated the dust of the earth in a measure?
Weighed the mountains in scales And the hills in a balance? Isaiah 66:1 says  Thus says the Lord: “Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that even though the situation you may be facing looks big, God is bigger. There is nothing that is too hard for Him. Nothing that He cannot do. He’s got your back.

Rest in that promise today. When you start to freak out about the obstacle, fix your eyes on Jesus instead. Just believe that He is bigger.

Speak Lord

I was thinking today of the phrase I hear church people say- “Speak Lord” I wonder if when we say that we really want to hear what He has to say? And whether or not we will obey His  voice if we do hear?

Have you ever heard someone say, “I don’t hear God” or ” God doesn’t speak to me”?  I ‘ve walked through seasons in life where I could clearly hear God speaking to me on a regular basis, and I’ve walked through seasons where I didn’t even recognize His voice. I came to a realization just the other day. God never stopped speaking to me, (insert dramatic pause here) I just stopped listening.

Funny thing about God though, when you do take the time to hear what He has to say- and I’m not just talking about in your prayer time, I’m talking about in the day to day ordinary moments throughout your day- when you are quick to obey when He tells you something, even something small, suddenly it seems that He starts talking a lot more.

God longs for a personal relationship with us probably more than we long for one with Him, and the only successful relationships I know of involve two-way communication on a regular basis. So don’t just talk  TO Him, take the time to hear what He has to say back.

What’s He been saying to you lately?

 

 

FOR Him or WITH Him?

Matthew 22:34-37-³⁵ Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, ³⁶ “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”³⁷ Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.³⁸ This is the first and great commandment.

The past month or so has been a whirlwind for me. I got sick, really sick for the first time in 3 years. But after 3 weeks, 2 dr appointments, 2 antibiotics and 1 round of steroids later, I was finally back to my old self. Work has been extremely busy as we rolled out a new website and online system for our Bible School, a new church database,and a new church website all within weeks of each other. All projects which required a lot of my attention. Add to that the regular challenges of being a pastor, a wife and a mommy, and I was stretched pretty thin.

For a little bit there, I felt like I was just running on empty.

I was so busy doing the work OF the ministry, I wasn’t  taking the time I needed to just minister to the Lord. The Lord kept speaking to my heart “Mary and Martha. you are being Martha right now, take the time to be like Mary.”

If you don’t understand what that means you can find the story here in Luke10:38-42. Basically in a nut shell, Jesus went to visit His friends Mary and Martha and Lazarus at their home. Martha was really busy with all of the preparations for Him to be there. I can see her now, cleaning, cooking, making sure the table was set just right. fussing and fretting and worrying that the meal she was preparing would not go perfectly. Meanwhile, her sister Mary was sitting at Jesus feet, just being in His presence, soaking up every Word He spoke.

Martha got upset and told Jesus to have Mary get up and help her since she was doing all the work. Jesus responded, “Martha, don’t you understand that Mary has chosen the best part”

Can you imagine Martha’s response? “The best part? What do you mean by that? Someone has to make sure everything gets done. Don’t you care that I’ve ben up since 3:00am preparing for your your time here?  She hasn’t done anything but spend time with you!”

Poor Martha, she just didn’t get it. Yes, she was busy and she probably prepared a lovely feast to honor Jesus, but in the midst of the busyness she forgot to just simply spend time in His presence.

How often is that you and me? We get so busy preparing things FOR God, that we forget to spend time WITH God. In our passage today, Jesus says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.”

You might argue that “I do love God, that’s why I work so hard for Him.” Think about it like this. A husband that works hard for his family, but never spends any time with his wife and kids. While they appreciate how he provides, they are longing for fellowship, for relationship, for him just to pay a little attention to them. God is the same way.

It’s not that He doesn’t appreciate all that we do, it’s just that He is saying, “Hey, where are you? I just want to fellowship with you. I just want a relationship with you. I just want you to pay a little attention to me.”

In the busyness of life, make sure that you are loving Him first. That you are putting your relationship with him even before your labor of love for Him.

 

PS. The minute you start loving Him first, no longer will you feel like you are running on empty. Because in His presence is fulness of joy, of peace, of love of strength and of everything you need! The byproduct of spending time with Him, is that He fills you up!

 

Yes!

2 Corinthians 1:20-22 ²⁰ For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us. ²¹ Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, ²² who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

I love this scripture even more in the Message version-

Whatever God has promised gets stamped with the Yes of Jesus. In him, this is what we preach and pray, the great Amen, God’s Yes and our Yes together, gloriously evident. God affirms us, making us a sure thing in Christ, putting his Yes within us. By his Spirit he has stamped us with his eternal pledge—a sure beginning of what he is destined to complete.

What a cool phrase- The YES of Jesus!

Every promise of God that you can find in the Word is stamped with the YES of Jesus.

That promise found in Deuteronomy 28:13?- ³ And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath, if you heed the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, and are careful to observe them.- YES!

Jeremiah 30:17 which says For I will restore health to you
And heal you of your wounds,’ says the Lord– YES!

Philippians 4:19? And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.- YES!

How about Deuteronomy 31:6- ⁶ Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.- YES!

What promise are you standing on? Whatever it is, don’t lose heart. It has been stamped wit the YES of Jesus!

My Grace is Sufficient

2 Corinthians 12:9 ⁹But He said to me, My grace (My favor and loving-kindness and mercy) is enough for you [sufficient against any danger and enables you to bear the trouble manfully]; for My strength and power are made perfect (fulfilled and completed) and show themselves most effective in [your] weakness. Therefore, I will all the more gladly glory in my weaknesses and infirmities, that the strength and power of Christ (the Messiah) may rest (yes, may pitch a tent over and dwell) upon me!

I love, love, love this scripture. It is one I know well, but at the same time seem to easily forget. In the verses before this one the apostle Paul speaks of how he is being buffeted by a messenger from Satan.

Let’s stop right there for a minute and interject that a messenger from Satan might not always look like the devil. Sometimes that messenger can appear in the form of a friend or family member, a coworker…. No I didn’t say our friends, family members and coworkers are from the devil. But he sure does know how to use them sometimes to get under our skin.

So anyways, Paul said that a messenger from Satan came to buffet him, or basically to harass him. Three times, Paul prayed and asked the Lord and begged that it would stop. But God’s answer wasn’t quite what he expected. God didn’t say He would remove the annoyance, He said My grace is sufficient for you. Not only sufficient against any danger but it will also enable you to bear the trouble manfully.

When things come to buffet us, to harass us, to try to steal our peace and short circuit our joy we may tend to focus on the problem. Have you been there? You don’t understand why it won’t stop, you try to fight it, you do everything you know how to do, but that thing is still there trying to oppress you? That’s because we don’t need the problem to go away, we just need to use the grace of God to override it.

God’s grace is His ability in you, allowing you to do the things you couldn’t do by yourself. So often we try to fight things in our own strength, but really we just need to call on the grace of God. His strength, beats ours any day. This verse says His strength becomes perfect in our weakness. That means where we leave off, He steps in and does it better than we ever could’ve on our own.

In the last part of this verse Paul says Therefore, I will all the more gladly glory in my weaknesses and infirmities, that the strength and power of Christ (the Messiah) may rest (yes, may pitch a tent over and dwell) upon me!

I don’t know about you, but I sure want the strength and power of Christ to rest, dwell and pitch a tent over me! Next time you feel like you are being harassed, stop, ask God for His grace and let His strength and power come to your rescue.  Rest in the knowledge that you don’t have to fight the battle, because He will take care of it.

I Will Praise You

Psalm 86:8-13 ⁸ Among the gods there is none like You, O Lord;
Nor are there any works like Your works.
⁹ All nations whom You have made
Shall come and worship before You, O Lord,
And shall glorify Your name.
¹⁰ For You are great, and do wondrous things;
You alone are God.

¹¹ Teach me Your way, O LORD;
I will walk in Your truth;
Unite my heart to fear Your name.
¹² I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart,
And I will glorify Your name forevermore.
¹³ For great is Your mercy toward me,
And You have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.

Sometimes it’s just good to take a few moments to glorify the Lord. This passage starts it off perfectly telling him how wonderful He is. Even when we spend time in prayer, do we take the time to adore Him, to tell Him how great He is? To lift Him up, and thank Him just for being God?

As a parent, I love to hear my children tell me that they love me, that they appreciate me, that I mean so much to them. When one of my kids takes a minute to say, “You’re the best, Mom!” it truly makes my day. I don’t think our Heavenly Father is any different. When we stop what we are doing to bring praises to the Lord, I think that must make His day too!

Psalm 22:3 tells us ³But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. He inhabits our praises. That means that He lives or resides in, He is present in, and He fills our praise. Since He owns the cattle on a thousand hills and the earth is His, pretty sure He can choose to live anywhere He wants. How special that the words of our mouth coming from our heart, become a place that He chooses to dwell.

I challenge you today to take the time to Glorify God. If you don’t know how to praise the Lord, open the Book of Psalms and start reading out loud! He takes His delight in your praise so get started!

For This Cause Friday- Bethel Worship

I want to take a minute to tell you about a really great CD that has been blessing me lately.

The Bethel Music latest release Be Lifted High is a fantastic album filled with incredible praise and worship songs.

You will want to sings and dance along to the praise songs You Are Good, and One Thing Remains. Jenn Johnson’s God I Look To You will minister to you, especially if you are facing tough decisions or times. I Will Exalt is an awesome worship chorus.

The entire album is one that will greatly bless you! You can purchase it here. The Deluxe album also includes a special dvd of the different worship leaders discussing the inspiration for each song. That in itself will minister to you!

Here’s a little taste of Bethel Music. Happy listening!