Remembering and Renewal

    I have a friend who recently told me that this has been the hardest year of her life. Knowing some of the difficult trials she has faced, I would have to acknowledge that her assessment is probably pretty accurate. Perhaps you would say that has been your story this year, too. 
    The end of the year is a time of reflection for many of us, an evaluation of the highs and lows from the past 12 months. As you think back on 2013, what do you remember about this year? Are there people or events that touched your heart, changed or challenged you in some way? Maybe this has been a year full of difficulty or great loss for you.
     Remembering is a powerful tool and one that God Himself instructs His people to use. In the Book of Joshua, God has just brought His people out of the desert wilderness that has been their destiny for the past 40 years. The first thing He tells them to do is to have the priests pick up 12 rocks from the riverbed of the Jordan and place them in the new land, the Promised Land, as a way for all generations to REMEMBER what God has done for them...how He used the difficult days to teach them to trust in Him, how He taught them to rely on  His perfect Provision with daily manna (bread), how He had rescued them with the parting of the Red Sea and the Jordan...how, despite their failures, He still had kept His covenant promises. 
So, why was this remembering so important for God's people then, and why is it still important for us today? 
BECAUSE WHEN WE REMEMBER ALL THE WAYS GOD HAS RESCUED, REDEEMED, PROVIDED AND PROTECTED US...THEN OUR FAITH IS STRENGTHENED FOR THE FUTURE AND OUR GRATITUDE AND LOVE FOR HIM GROW. 
You see, God knew that the Isrealites were going to need to trust Him for the battles that lay ahead (Think of the trust it took to follow His battle plan to conquer Jericho~I mean who thinks it will work to march around a city 7 times and the walls fall?! Only a people who trust completely in their God). He knew that remembering what He had done would give them hope, encouragement and a deeper faith in Him and His power. 
     So as you reflect back on 2013, let me challenge you to pick up your own "rocks of remembrance." Looking back on this year, what are all the ways God has rescued, redeemed, protected and provided for you...in good times and in difficult? Prayerfully look at where His Spirit has been moving in your life. List them all in one place. Then, look over each one and thank Him. We often utter a quick "thank you" in the moment, but there is something very powerful about seeing all He has done before you at one time. It is truly awe-inspiring. It releases the gift of joy. 
   When He is the focus of your remembering, your perspective will be filled with His magnificent purpose. 
   My friend, who has lived through the most difficult year, also came to know Christ in a deeper and more intimate level than ever before...and remembering that, has changed her perspective from one of sorrow to one of hope. 
  May you reflect, ponder and pray with Christ as your focus...then, and only then, will you leave 2013 and enter the new year with a heart filled with hope, trust and gratitude for Who He is. 
Happy New Year to you all!

  

                                                    The Best Ride EVER!

        The State Fair was in N.C. a couple weeks ago. Maybe you were there, eating lots of things that you'd only try once a year, or maybe spending boatloads of money trying to shoot a plastic bathtub ducky out of the water as it wobbled by (just one more shot!), or maybe you rode some of the wild rides that promised thrills, but mostly made you feel a little sick. Good times.

      For several years now, I've been on a wild ride. Not a fair ride, but something far better...

     About 6 years ago, I first felt God calling me into something more, to take another step and find out for myself what it would be like to live closer to Him. I felt Him nudging my heart to learn more about Him and to help other people do the same. I knew He was calling me into some kind of counseling, but I was not sure exactly what that meant. 

And then He did the sweetest thing....He showed me a picture. As I was praying early one morning, He very clearly gave me a picture of myself, getting off of a rollercoaster. Standing there waiting as I got off of the ride, I saw Jesus. He looked right at me and said, "Wasn't that a GREAT ride?" And with all the enthusiasm and exhilaration of a kid, I said, "YES!" And that is exactly what it has been like.

     Counseling from God's Word has been full of ups and downs, twists and unexpected turns, and alot of thrills! It has never, not once, been boring or mundane. It has been very scary at times, but there has never been a single moment that I felt alone. There is nothing more amazing than having a front row seat to watch the Holy Spirit work in someone's life...to see God free them from something that has been debilitating in their life, or to see Him restore someone's marriage, or watch in awe as someone comes to know Christ for the first time, or comes back to Him after years of being lost, to witness the lord bring someone back from the brink of suicide to a heart full of the joy of knowing Him. There is another amazing thing that happens every time I get on this ride with someone and we climb the steepest hills imaginable, cascading to the bottom and suddenly turning and twisting, our stomachs somewhere behind us. There is a bond that forms. We laugh together, we cry together, we pray together (alot) and we both experience His greatness and power together. It is the heart of sisterhood,  knit together by Christ and it is a treasure of inexpressable value. 

     Today, I was having a difficult time expressing to one of my dear sisters in Christ, how I'd been feeling lately. I tried to articulate how I had been experiencing this strong desire to have my whole life be so connected to Him, that there was never any separation, that everything would be about Him. I told her that I could feel it building every day, every week. My eloquent friend looked at me and said, "It's like you're at the top of a roller coaster and you're about to go down that big, steep hill. You can see it right in front of you and the anticipation is palpable!"  There it was...the rollercoaster, the ride I was on and the One, Who will be with me on this next adventure, gave me the sweetest reminder of His Presence in it all, with her words that took me back to where it had all started. 

And that is where I am...I know that something very exciting is coming, a new adventure and a thrilling ride. I don't know all the twists and turns, but I know one thing with all certainty. If it is the ride He has for me...I don't want to miss one second! 

It is what we are all made for, to know Him and the greatness of His love. Nothing, no not one thing, compares to the joy of knowing Him, and of sharing that love with others!  

                                                         

So what are you waiting for? He has a more thrilling ride than any state fair or amusement park could ever build, and it is designed just for you. So hop on. If you do, when you step off at the end, and He asks you what you thought, you too, can say with a childlike excitement, "That was the best ride EVER!" 

     

Use It or Lose It!

                                                          

     How many of us, in our younger years, played a sport, an instrument or practiced something deligently, determined to improve on what we had the day before? Fast forward twenty or thirty years and one of our kids asks us to play that sport or instrument with them. Wow! What has happened to our excellent skill, our aptitude, and our prowess? It has faded with the passing years of non-use, like a light that has dimmed, our glory days are but a memory. 

    Jesus used a parable (story) to illustrate this principle in Mark 4:21-25. I was reading this passage today as part of a wonderful Bible study called, "You Belong to the Bridegroom" by my precious friend Aliene Thompson (you can order it at www.treasuredministries.com). One of the things I love about her studies is the room she leaves for the Holy Spirit to speak through the Word to you personally. The Lord spoke loudly and clearly through the parable in this morning's Scripture: 

      He said to them, "Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don't you put it on a stand? For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear." 

     "Consider carefully what you hear," he continued. "With the measure you use, it will be measured to you-and even more. Whoever has will be given more;whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him."

     In today's language, "use it or lose it!" Jesus was telling his followers that we have been given the light of Christ and if we CHOOSE to hide it, out of fear, ignorance or rebellion, that light will grow dimmer, flickering and fading from what it used to be. No longer will His light radiate forth from within, shining for all who are walking in the darkness...and where will that leave the world, our nation, our communities and our families? 

    Here is the good news: our faith does not have to disappear with the other things that age may dull! We can actually become stronger, with more love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control! Our Lord tells us exactly how we can grow, rather than die...gain rather than lose...experience feast, rather than famine~ 

The more we use what He has given us for His glory (not our own), the more we grow in our faith, love, and understanding of Him! Through His Word, His Spirit, and fellowship with His people, more and more is poured out for us to share! And who among us does not think the world needs more faith-filled, Christ-centered, selfless love, to light  the darkness today? 

     It is the choice of every one of us. We can continue to let our faith wither and fade from lack of use, or we can dust it off, and turn our hearts back to Him. Start today, start where you are, and take that next step to use what you have been given. There is no better "Trainer" than Jesus!  He can get your heart back in shape in no time..that's what He came for! He can reignite your lamp! 

    Speak of what He is doing in your life, love that difficult co-worker or spouse with His grace, forgive those who have hurt you...all of this and more, have been given to you as undeserved grace. Now is the time for you to use it! 

 Let your light shine!

Reflect, Renew, Rejoice

   As I tuck 2012 into my memory and prepare for 2013, I can't help but be grateful for all of the beautiful (and sometimes difficult) ways God has stretched and grown me this past year. Some of the lessons I've learned have been sweet and some have been heart-breaking, but as I reflect on them all, I can see His love reaching out to the depths of my soul...and I rejoice...for He is making all things new. 

    Here are just a few of the things He has laid on my heart this past year. 

    I have learned...

    Some of God's sweetest "love notes" are not in the big things, but in the details He clearly orchastrates. 

   God's timing and provision are fully trustworthy and perfect, even if it was not what we had planned. 

    I need to be intentional in praying through decisions, because only God knows the future.

   When I overcommit, overbook, or overdo it only makes me less connected to Him and less loving to others. 

   A heart of legallism can be disguised and repackaged, but it will still eventually permeate and destroy the very thing or people it is trying to control. Only a heart of love brings life. 

   When I draw my fulfillment from my relationship with Christ and my complete dependance on the Holy Spirit's leading, I am free to simply love others-not worry about having them meet my expectations or whether I meet theirs. 

    It is not important to define myself by a job, title, or church affiliation, but only by how I follow Jesus and love others.

  Thank you for letting me share these with you! My prayer is that you may glean from them and perhaps share some of the things God has revealed to you this year. May our hearts be always open and rejoicing in His amazing wisdom, goodness, and most of all, love. 

                                             Happy New Year!