Spiritual Blogs
Unless
This past week I “drank from a fire hydrant.” At least that’s what it felt like as I took in so many powerful and wonderful lessons in a short amount of time. I returned from the World Discipleship Summit today convicted, thrilled, moved, inspired, renewed and exhausted! Yesterday, as nearly 18,000 disciples sang “Men Who Dream” tears of joy kept flowing down my cheeks. I am quite sure God is not through with us and I’m so eager to see God do more than I dare ask or imagine. (Ephesians 3:21) And, I’m eager to let God use my life for His glory.
Being the Bigger Person -- Takes Becoming Smaller
My story has always been one of forgiveness. God forgave me and I, in turn, am able to forgive others and myself. Sometimes people hurt us so deeply that it literally makes our hearts ache. I recently had such a moment, and what made it worst was that the person had absolutely no idea why I felt hurt by their words and actions. This hurt more because, to me, it meant that they didn’t know me well enough to recognize that their actions would in fact hurt me, or that they didn’t care enough to acknowledge that they had caused me pain. I felt stupid, taken advantage of, and small. I am called to forgive and let go and lean into God’s love for comfort and restoration. I am called to a higher obedience because my identity is not tied to how this person views or treats me, but in Christ alone who redeemed me, loves me, and forgives me.
Satisfaction of the Heart
There are many things in my life I try to maintain daily: a diet and exercise routine, my work, my relationships, my looks. Yes, I said it, my looks. The older I get the more I pay attention to my physical appearance. It’s a little embarrassing, but I have used this to my advantage to feel secure more than I care to admit. It’s exposed how much security I can get from how I am perceived.
Nevertheless
I Chronicles 11:4, 5:
David and all the Israelites marched to Jerusalem....The Jebusites who lived there said to David, 'You will not get in here.' Nevertheless, David captured the fortress of Zion, the City of David.
How much we need a nevertheless kind of faith! Naysayers will abound in life. We live in a negative-thinking world. So many of our dreams of ways to serve God can meet with scepticism. Even our own hearts can sabotage our best intentions. But we will fail to see miracles in our lives if we heed every caution that wars against our faith.
Walking the Power Lines
I love my prayer walks. Wyndham and I often walk along a gravel/mud path across from our house that follows several miles of power lines. Yesterday as we walked and prayed (and scolded Denver for eating the leash) I kept noticing the path of wires above me.
It is at times disconcerting to hear the electricity’s snap, crackle and pop in these wires. I’ve also wondered (since I have been hit by lightning and currently walk under power lines) if I am overcharged with electrical current. Is it just me or do others often get shocked when touching food on grocery shelves? Regardless, it is perplexing to me to ponder the way power inside of these thin wires accomplishes so much.
I Am Not a Super Hero
Sometimes I take a lot on by myself. While I don’t overtly think I can handle everything on my own or am some sort of super hero, I sure can act like it. I know that I need people, but sometimes it’s hard to tell them that. It’s much easier to get mad at them later when I struggled through it myself and they didn’t read my mind.
Eternal Setting
Diamonds last forever.
Do they?
Really?
Lately I have been thinking about eternity. Solomon tells us that God “set eternity” in our hearts. I think that “setting” will last longer than a diamond one.
Seven Habits For Building A Strong Marriage
Since we are away, teaching at a marriage retreat, it seems a good time to post some habits my husband and I have developed over the years which have helped to make our marriage strong. 37 years later, there is no one I would rather spend time with than my husband – my best friend.
Perfect Timing
I started praying about three months ago for specific people and opportunities. Some of the answers to my prayers are still not clear, but others have begun to form. The amazing thing is the timing of these answers. I am learning that God fulfills requests in such a way as to sustain me to continue to do his will.
One Thing I Seek
It is common for us to ask ourselves why we are doing one thing or another, but it can be a confusing matrix of shoulds and shouldn'ts, oughts and ought nots. In Galatians 2:6-10, the Apostle Paul makes is very clear that he was completely unmotivated by people's expectations or their status.
