Holy is He

We just finished watching the movie "The Nativity Story". First time I've seen it since it came out a few years back. I needed to blog this before I forget and it leaves my mind. I pray that this does not leave my mind but stays in it and I pass it along to you.

As I watched the scene after baby Jesus is born and saw the shepherds and the wise men come and bow down and worship Jesus - this Savior that was born - I couldn't help but think of all of us/myself. What I mean is that they were so humbled to be in the presence of Jesus, so humbled and in awe of him and wanted to bow down in worship to him. That is so beautiful to me. Why don't we do that? I know that we sometimes do, but I mean really bow down in worship to him. Do we stand in awe of who he is - our redeemer - our creator - we should stand in awe every day just knowing that we are in his presence. There is so much power in his holiness. So much life that he wants to breathe into us. If only we would fall down and humble ourselves before him. The wise men brought valuable gifts to to him. But how often do we hold back from giving to him. How often do we hold back from bringing the whole tithe into the storehouse - and how often we hold back surrendering all of who we are to him.

Our worship to Jesus should not stop at the manger but continue on each day. The other night as I went to bed I became overwhelmed of his presence. I became overwhelmed and humbled that the creator of the universe dwells within me. It gave me this powerful feeling of wanting to be so holy and pure. I know that I cannot bring perfection to him (although I am covered in the robe of righteousness - what joy) but I just felt that being in his presence, I wanted nothing in me that was not holy. It blew me away and I felt so incredibly loved by him. I just love times like this. When I sense his presence, it is so beautiful.

Just stop and reflect upon this Savior. Reflect upon his holiness and how much he is in love with you. Ask him to fill you with his Spirit and to wash all over you. "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever." Catch that - the same!

You are clothed in his presence, just step into it.

SMILE BIG

Job had it rough. He was a righteous man and when all the devestation in his life came upon him he worshiped God - then was mad at God. Hear what he says: "I loathe my very life; therefore I will give free rein to my complaint and speak out in the bitterness of my soul. I will say to God: Do not condemn me, but tell me what charges you have against me. Does it please you to oppress me, to spurn the work of your hands, while you smile on the schemes of the wicked? Do you have eyes of flesh? Are your days like those of a mortal or your years like those of a man, that you must search out my faults and probe after my sin - through you know that I am not guilty and that no one can rescue me from your hand."

I cannot even begin to imagine the suffering Job was in. Yet here we have Job in a way saying, "God, I thought I was a righteous man - what in the world did I do to deserve this kind of punishment from you?" His bitterness and complaining are taking over. Sound familiar? We have all been at this point at sometime in our life. But here what his friend Zophar has to say to him: "You say to God, 'My beliefs are flawless and I am pure in your sight.' Oh, how I wish that God would speak that he would open his lips against you and disclose to you the secrets of wisdom, for true wisdom has two sides...Yet if you devote your heart to him and stretch out your hands to him,...then you will lift up your face without shame; you will stand firm and without fear. You will surely forget your trouble, recalling it only as waters gone by."

We need God to search our hearts every day. When trials come in life, which they will, how will we react? Will we talk back to God as Job did? Or will we humble ourselves and seek his face and repent. God wants us to do this every day, not just when trials come. Sometimes I think that we are afraid to allow God to search our hearts because we don't like what is there. Mostly this is because we are ashamed of our sin. Go figure - sin does bring shame - but it cannot stop there. I will say that again - it cannot stop there. Here what Job's friend continues to say to him: "Life will be brighter than noonday, and darkness will become like morning. You will be secure, because there is hope." When we allow God to search our hearts he will find sin there but we can lay this before him without shame because the blood of Christ has made us holy. Think about this, really think about this, the blood of Christ has made you holy and pure. We can look at how pitiful we can be, how we don't trust God in our trials, how we even blame God but when we put our hope and trust in the Lord even in the midst of our trials he will lift us up.

I do want God to search through my heart. For me it is a conscious decision that I must make. I think that it's not too hard for any of us to hold back with God. We give him part of our heart but the ugly part we try not to let him see, even though we know he sees it anyway. It's really lame when you think about it. Like I said the other day, "Jesus isn't mad at you, he is madly in love with you." When we claim the truth that we are loved by Jesus no matter what we have done, that it is a unconditional love, our whole life will change. We will be secure.

The following song was sung at Emily and Jon's wedding. Listen closely - this is how much you are loved - pour your heart out to Jesus. Empty yourself to him - let him totally in your heart. Hold nothing back - he loves you so beautifully despite your sin. That is just so amazingly great! We are beautiful - SMILE BIG!

Gratitude

There is so much to say that words can hardly begin to write them all out. As most of you know I have not blogged in a while because of a wedding and crazy business. Back and forth to Michigan has left little time for much. I begin by saying that Emily and Jon's wedding was just beautiful. I say again - their ceremony had Christ wrapped all around and I just love that. The service was filled with music and worship to Christ. Tears of gratitude to our heavenly Father filled many eyes, including Emily and Jon.

At the beginning of the week we were thrilled that sister Denise and Mike came back from Kenya to surprise all the sisters for the wedding. Tim and I knew - I cannot begin to describe the tears of joy on the sisters (and spouses) as one at a time they were surprised. I would like to post the videos of the reunion but I think that they are a bit personal. But believe me when I say that God's love and joy has been wrapped all around our family this past week.

I was reading this morning from Job 1. If you have been through some real challenges in life I encourage you to read this chapter. I cannot even begin to imagine my heart bearing what Job's heart had to bear. Listen how quickly this all came to him. "A messanger came to Job and said, 'The oxen were plowing and the donkey's were grazing nearby and the Sabeans attacked and carried them off. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you.' Check out his next line. "While he was still speaking, another messanger came and said, 'The fire of God fell from the sky and burned up the sheep and the servants..." and again, right away..."While he was still speaking, another messanger came and said. '...and swept down on your camels and carried them off and they put the servants to the sword..." and again..."While he was still speaking, yet another messenger came and said, 'Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother's house, when suddently a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead..."

I cannot even begin to imagine what his heart was going through. While one messenger was speaking another one comes with more devestating news. One after another. Seems like at this point I would wish I could die too. Seems like I would be unable to breath. Yet Job's response is nothing like that. "At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised."

Can you imagine this? I look at this past week and the crazy joy and the overflowing love that I have for my family and I cannot imagine them all being taken away from me. Would I bow down and worship God? It is time again to pray this through. Time again to press deeper into him because it is his face that I want to seek and I don't want anything else in my life to get in the way of that. How easily we can slip away into finding our identity in this world, in our family, in our job...etc. Our identity should be in Christ and him alone.

I face a new chapter in my life for sure. I don't know what God has in store for me yet but he does have a plan. Three of my girls now have Godly men to take care of them. I feel so blessed! I commend them all now to the care of the Lord. A beautiful example from my in-laws. I look at the wonderful blessing of my family and I can only feel humbled that God has allowed me to be their mother. I am so grateful to our heavenly Father for his goodness.

No matter where you are in your life, from a time when you may feel desperate like Job or to joyous times, just worship Jesus. Thank him for everything. Just pour out worship to him. There is not much that I can bring to Jesus. Usually I come empty handed but he fills them. Our family will face challenges in their lives, this I know - but with Jesus at the center they will walk through the challenges and come out on the other side victors in Christ. Bring all that you are to Jesus. As one youth speaker said recently "Jesus isn't mad at you he is madly in love with you."

For Such a Time as This!

So I am reading through the book of Esther again. I love this story. Esther has been requested to speak to the King about his decree to wipe out her people. She says "for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned the king has but one law: that he be put to death." Esther knew that she had no choice, either way she would die. But Mordecai (the one who had raised her) said to her "And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this." She asks all of her people to fast for her for three days. "When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish."

As I read these words again I was reminded of my life. I/we could rephrase the words like this - "Who knows that I have come to where I am now for such a time as this." I don't know where you are in life right now but you are where God wants you right now. I know that my walk to where I am today has not always been an easy one. God has taken me through some very difficult times and done an amazing amount of work in me through it all. Sure I would have loved to have not gone through some of it but "God works all things for the good of those who love him." Heard that before, right? It's hard to hear when your in the middle of tough stuff because we cannot see good result. Yet hear Esthers attitude - She has chosen to do the right thing, knowing full well that she will most likely die. Going to the king or not going to him were both not good options. "And if I perish, I perish." If you've read the story you know that Queen Esther lives and so do her people.

Where you are right now, where I am right now is for such a time as this. Right now you are where the Lord wants you. Seek him every day - throughout the day - listen to his still small voice. There is a song that says "Word of God speak, won't you fall down like rain, washing my eyes to see your majesty, to be still and know that your in this place, come let me stay and rest in your holiness, word of God speak." I love how his word speaks to me - I love that when I pray and ask for his presence that he always shows up. I love that as I continue to write and seek his presence that he continues to guide my words and fill me up. His promises are true every morning for each of us. His promises to truly be with us every step of our life is a promise that somehow we forget. When we are facing fears and decision times sometimes we cry out to him in desperation just for an answer for what to do. We should do this - but I would implore you to spend time to just seek his presence and that alone. Cry out to him to just be with him. "your heavenly father knows your needs..." I can find myself seeking him all the time for the same request but this morning I just seek him to be with me. Nothing more - friendship is like that isn't it? Do we always seek our friends when things are hard or don't we sometimes just want to hang out. Our relationship with Jesus should be the same way. He wants a relationship with you - deep - personal and intimate. Calling on him in trouble, joys and just fellowship. "Draw near to me and I will draw near to you." Hebrews

Know that you are where God wants you right now, trust him and seek him. May you just be so overcome today in communion with Jesus.

I must tell you right now - this moment - Jesus loves you so much. You are loved by the creator of the universe, run to him and open up your heart and ask him to fill it. It's just the greatest ever. Nothing else in this world can fill you. Listen to this song and just worship him - open up your hands and imagine him holding them. We have empty hands to open to him but boy can he ever fill them.

Tragedy

I just read an article about a couple of young children that died in Haiti, stuck under the rubble alive while someone tried to get them out. Unable to help because it was dark he headed 5 miles away to get help and come back when there was light. The next morning hurried back with help only to find them both dead. I was overcome with sadness.

I have been to Biloxi, MS twice for hurricane Katrina Relief. One time in particular we were working on someones house who had not been back to her home in the 4 years since the Hurricane hit. The pain in her voice as she told the story was real as she shared with tears. It was the first time she had shared her story with anyone and I could tell it was very healing for her. Tragedy brings about a lot of pain. One of the people in Biloxi who stayed there told us why he stayed and his experience there. He told us that nobody could have prepared for this. His house and his mothers house were the only two houses left on the street - the rest just floated away. He held over 30 people on the second floor of his house. If he had not been there they would have died.

I want to go to Haiti and help but somehow I feel like I would feel insignificant in the pile of rubble. Sure I would touch the life of someone and help them but the size of the tragedy seems overwhelming.

I will continue to finalize plans for Emily and Jon's wedding next week.
Angela and I will continue our plans to head to Costa Rica for some mission work.
Tim will continue to serve the people of Waterville and surrounding areas.
I will hopefully find a job.
We will continue to do as the Lord calls us - and if he would send us to Haiti to help, then we would go.

So Father God, I ask you to speak to me today. Show me my next steps. May I be your instrument to those who face tragedy. Wherever you use me to do this I am your servant. Fill me with your love so that I can give your love to others. May I daily remember "whatever you did for the least of these my brothers, you did for me."

The other day I read a powerful proverb. They all actually are, but this one hit me.
Proverbs 21:13 "If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered."

What more is there to say?

TRUTH

So scripture is so hard to read - it always is convicting. Seems like I can't read it without going "gee, really, uhh."

I was reading Psalm 35 this morning. Talk about convicting. As David writes in the Psalms he so often is asking the Lord to take vengence on his enemies. He is saying things like "May they be like chaff before the wind, with the angel of the Lord driving them away; may their path be dark and slippery...and without cause dug a pit for me, may ruin overtake them by surprise..." and it goes on - Yet listen to what David does next ~ "Yet when they were ill, I put on sackcloth and humbled myself with fasting. When my prayers returned to me unanswered, I went about mourning as though for my friend or brother. I bowed my head in grief as though weeping for my mother." He is fervantly praying for his enemy. Look what happenes next. "But when I stumbled, they gathered in glee;...they slandered me without ceasing...they gnashed their teeth at me."

How many times have we thought about our enemy - that person(s) that have made our life a misery and truly prayed for them? I mean with real sincerity. I want you to notice the conclusion of this Psalm. "May those who delight in my vindication shout for joy and gladness; may they always say, "The Lord be exalted, who delights in the well-being of his servant."

His prayer is that through him that his enemies will see the Lord. How pitiful we are. We should be praying for those who are against us. Usually our thoughts are to want bad upon our enemies instead of seeking to have an attitude of Christ. David prayed that his enemies would shout for joy and gladness to the Lord. Isn't that so beautiful? That they would be able to look and see how the Lord takes care of him and know this amazing God that we have. We are to be witness for Christ in our life. Too easily Satan creaps in our thoughts and convinces us to hate our enemies (what they did was unforgiveable, you can't forgive them...etc.) Those are lies and don't believe them. Loving your enemy is not easy - that is why David spoke sometimes the he did, but he always came back to the truth. Praising God and praying for them. When we feel the negaive thoughts invading our minds may we recognize where they are coming from and shout truth.

"Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

What voice are you listening to?

Lifts My Heart

"But as soon as they were at rest, they again did what was evil in your sight. Then you abandoned them to the hand of their enemies so that they ruled over them. And when they cried out to you again you heard from heaven, and in your compassion you delivered them time after time." Nehemiah 9

As I read this today all I could come up with was - WOW, THIS IS OUR GOD! We go along in life, everything is going good as we follow Christ, then wham, we turn away. We realize that this got us going in the wrong direction, that running off on our own was a huge mistake, we cry out to God again and he rescues us. Time after time! Doesn't that just blow you away when you think about that? The thing that I have found through this process is that every time we grow stronger and the more we recognize God's hand in our life - every part of it - the less we will fall apart.

Throughout scripture is reference to the Israelites wandering in the desert. For those of us who know their story we know the difficulties God had with these people. Check this out though - in 1 Corinthians 10 - "Now these things occured as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did...(referring to the Israelites) ...they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry. We should not indulge in sexual immorality,-as some of them did - and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. We should not test the Lord, as some of them did - and were killed by snakes. And do not grumble, as some of them did - and were killed by the destroying angel . These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us...so if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!"

I think it is so easy for us to read the accounts of the Israelites and think that we would never do that stuff - we're pretty good compared to them. Ya, right. The last part about 'do not grumble' - every one of us is guilty of this. Scripture is clear, these are examples for us. There are consequences for our sin and we need remember that we are not immune to them. Yet through everything we have this God who continues to have compassion on us. The words 'so if you think you are standing firm' make me think of pride. How easily we can say "I am doing pretty good, I haven't done too much of that kind of stuff." But...."be careful that you don't fall." You see sometimes when we are standing so confident, that is when the enemy will come and attack. Walking confident is good but we must have our armour on and continue to ask Christ to fill us with his presence. Too easily we can walk confident on our own - that is when we will fall. On our own we cannot do it. It is a daily seeking the power and strength of God to carry us.

I love that God is so compassionate to me. It just lifts my heart. Now I should pass that compassion on to others and not hold it in. Our God is mighty to save.

The Way Up is Down!

I am so incredibly thankful to God that Angela is so happy in her new school. What a huge blessing and one that makes it so much easier for mom. Thank you Lord for this answered prayer. God is good - so good!

Ok, so on to the subject for today. This morning I saw a picture on the internet of a Christian with both of his middle fingers up. That was so disapointing to me. Then I went to read my scripture and read the following.

"Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. For if anyone with a weak conscience sees you who have this knowledge eating in an idol's temple, won't he be emboldened to eat what has been sacrificed to idols?...When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ."

After I read these verses I really thought about us Christians. How do we present ourselves and how do we live our lives in this world? So we may not eat food sacrificed to idols, but the point here is what do we do as Christians that others see? If we claim to follow Jesus do others see that we live that out? When I saw that picture this morning I of couse thought - "you call yourself a Christian". Not judging here but it does speak for itself. If someone who's faith is weak or someone that has no faith at all sees me doing something "of this world" does that not say that being a Christian is no different? My son-in-law was not a beliver until he saw the life of his now wife. He never saw the life of Christians any different than his. Isn't that so sad to think that there are so few Christians that live their lives any different than a non-Christian?

We should all stop and think about our walk with Jesus. Do you call yourself a Christian and yet still swear and go out partying and join in whatever else everyone is doing? First and foremost is to remember that you are a forgiven and loved son or daughter of the King. Knowing that no matter what you have done, you are still loved and forgiven brings the ultimate freedom - EVER! Then as Jesus told the woman caught in adultery - "Go now and leave your life of sin."

It's pretty simple - as Christians we do have a choice. There is no middle ground. We're either for Christ or against him. When I get to the end of my life I want to hear "well done good and faithful servant." Will I do it perfectly - no way, that's why Jesus came to die for me - but my life should be lived for him, not this world. If everything else was taken away in my life there would be a lot of pain and loss, BUT I WOULD STILL HAVE JESUS!

He is the lover of my soul! He longs to be close to you - closer than you can even begin to imagine. All you have to do is seek him and he will be found. That is a promise! If you feel lost or alone - unforgiven or scared - just get alone with Jesus. Fall face down on the floor, I mean really on the floor - just seek him - speak out loud to him - tell him how you feel - all of it - he hears your prayer - ask him to fill you with his presence - he will, he promises to. "Draw near to me and I will draw near to you." Remember, the way up is down!

You are so loved by the creator. It is overwhelming to me how much I am loved.

ROOTS...

My life has been a whirlwind for sure. Our move to Ohio has brought many emotions for me, joys, fears, excitment, wonder, loss, confusion, anticipation and tears of all sorts. Somehow this move has been filled with all of them. As I have begun reading a book "After the Boxes are Unpacked" it has helped me to feel that I am not alone in these feelings and that time and Jesus will bring them into balance and that they are all normal. That has helped me a lot.

I have seen answered prayers for sure. We have been speaking truth to Angela through this whole move that God does have an awesome plan for her as well. Her experience at Toledo Christian has already been a positive experience for her. I am so happy. I just knew it was going to be good for her. She loves wearing a uniform every day - and we are praying for our mission trip to Costa Rica in the spring through her new school. That is so awesome to me - what a great opportunity.

I read this morning some verses that most of us have read many times but some words seemed to come more alive for me today. "I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."

Check this out - Christ's Spirit is in our inner being and with it we have power - WOW - and I love the SO THAT part! SO THAT CHRIST MAY DWELL IN OUR HEART! I was thinking last night about some of the sadness and even hurt I have faced in our move. The part about our roots being pulled out of the ground. A plant will face some trauma if it's roots are pulled out, but if re-planted in good soil it will again begin to grow. This scripture is a clear reminder that my/our roots need to be in Christ's love. When they are I love the result - we will know how wide and long and high and deep Jesus love for us is in a way that we cannot even begin to understand it. And the best part of all this is the last words 'THAT WE MAY BE FILLED TO THE MEASURE OF ALL THE FULLNESS OF GOD.' Seriously, the fullness of God can actually fill us. His love can so overcome us that we will be overcome with it. I feel that right now and it's awesome.

Stop for a moment, listen to this song, close your eyes, and seek his presence. He will be found.

SPEAK

"With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be."

Anybody else feel convicted here? Oh, so maybe you don't actually swear, but we do so often in so many other ways. The phrase 'we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness' makes me think of times when I have cut down someone else. I have spoken poorly of someone that God has made. We are all made in the likeness of our creator and yet we will speak praise to our creator and poorly about someone else. Seems like it goes along with gossip doesn't it?

"Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom" Humbling oursleves is all over the scripture. When we do things in our life that comes from a humble heart the results are so cool. Our mouths will sing praise to our creator and we will seek the interest of others rather than ourselves.

"For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice."

I do not want to be in this category do you? The opposite of being humble is the above verse. Look where that gets us! May we all remember that our life here is not about us/you but about Jesus and him alone. May we look at everything we do and say toward others as if they were Jesus himself. And may we remember that the person sitting next to you at work or in the coffee shop may not even know that this Jesus loves them with a passion that we cannot even begin to comprehend. Lets tell about Jesus with a boldness like never before. Not your gift you may think? Well, it's not about you or me it's about Jesus. If we are to be his hands and his feet and if we are to be his mouthpiece we better be used to tell about what Jesus has done in our life. It's pretty great! Remember that Moses couldn't speak very well but God sent him to Pharoah anyway.

If we don't share it they may never hear it! It will mean we will have to go out of our comfort zone - WE CAN DO IT! When we do, look out!!!!!!!!:)