I would like to say Amen! to what Amity wrote last Friday, and I will join her in prayer that "we would grasp that truth – that God would open our eyes to understand the grace that He lavishly pours out on us through Jesus Christ." Go and read her entry if you haven't already.

We have to believe that the newness of who we are now is real. Christ's death and resurrection personally received and applied to our lives changes who we are. And it's more than a new lense through which God sees us. He didn't need new glasses, we needed new life. New. Not there before. The inner being, the nature, the heart - it's all new. It's not that now God doesn't see the faults and blemishes. They are not there.

I can just hear some of you. But what about the things I do wrong, my bad attitude, my less than kind behaviour, etc.

These come as a result of wrong thinking - not as a result of a sinful, wicked heart. Our behaviour will be a result of what we think, what we believe. If I believe my heart is wicked and sinful, then I have no hope for living an abundant, joyful life. I will either live out the wickedness of my heart, or I will be defeated, because I can never do anything right. We must believe what God says is true - truth is good news and gives life and joy. Unfortunately, we find it way easier to believe bad news and our negative experiences, and so we go with what's easy. Sometimes correction in our behaviour is necessary, but it is a matter of exchanging the truth for a lie, since our behaviour will reflect what we believe. God desires that our attitudes and actions come from believing the truth.

Dear Sisters (and Brothers) it is crucial for you to know the truth and to believe it. Read your Bible, read your Bible, read your Bible, and ask God to help you understand it and believe what he says is true. Ask him to make it personal. He may not use chickens for you, but he knows what you need from him to make it your own.

Every day my kids beg me to tell them a story of when I was younger or they want to know the story of the book I’m reading. We were cuddled up and they had a barrage of questions for me and one of them involved 9/11 because I was reading a book about it. I took them to the computer and showed them YouTube videos of the plane hitting the Twin Towers and the collapse of the towers and told them about the other 2 planes, one being the plane that crashed into the field in Pennsylvania. They were awestruck by the fact that all those people on that plane chose to risk their own lives and died so that others would live. They saved the plane from hitting the Pentagon. We got into an amazing discussion about this and how as Christians we can relate this to Christ laying down His life for us.

This lead to the story of a train bridge operator I once heard and impacted me. He had a call that a passenger train was coming and he needed to get the bridge down so the train could cross the river. The man lived on the property with his family so he could be ready to lift the bridge up or move it down at a moment’s notice for either the boats to get across or the train to go over the river. He hit the botton for the bridge to go down. It was evening and things were starting to get dark. He knew exactly the time it took for the bridge to lift up and down and that his timing would need to be perfect for the passenger train to come across. As the bridge was lowering, he looked out and saw something on the tracks. Suddenly he realized it was his son playing on the bridge…

....he knew that if he reversed the bridge to go back up that the passenger train would plummet into the river, killing hundreds and that his son would live. If he allowed the bridge to continue downward so the passenger train could cross over, that hundreds of lives would be saved and that the life of his son would be lost. He had to make a choice and a tough one that would be…

… he chose to save the passenger train.

As a mother the thought torments me of what this gentleman needed to wrestle with. How many of us would give our own lives for the life of our children. I know that when my children are sick I would take their place in a heart beat. When they’re hurting or sad, I feel the same thing. The love we have for our own flesh and blood runs so deep.

What an illustration of how deep the Father’s love is for us. God chose to send His one and only son to die for us that we could have eternal life. Many of us know this verse very well:

John 3:16 (NIV) "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Here it is in other translations to help understand the verse:

The Message says "This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life."

The Amplified Bible says “For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life."

God loves us so much yet he sent his Son to die for us that we may live. God loved his son too and it must have been agonizing for him knowing what Jesus had to suffer for us. He did that so we may live. Christ died for you and me so we may be free. What an amazing sacrifice!

Chickens and Grace

Just after Easter one year I got 12 chicks to raise for eggs. My adventure of being a wannabe farmer began with these chicks. Not all of those chicks were hens as I had hoped they’d be, so as time unfolded I had to roll up my sleeves and do some of the nasty business of good old-fashioned farming. What hilarious adventures we had! And what profound lessons God provided through my chickens.

Chickens are very curious and observant creatures. They notice the tiniest of details. They noticed when I had new nail polish, and when they notice something, they check it out by pecking at whatever they are curious about. Therefore I always had to wear shoes or boots in the coop and pen. That might sound like a no-brainer to some of you true farmers, but my city roots showed through when I thought I’d just quickly duck into the coop and check for eggs while wearing my flip-flops. For a while they were pecking at the freckles on my legs so I couldn’t even wear shorts. My fingernail that refused to grow back after a fungal infection became the main attraction of my fault-finding chickens. They didn’t just notice my imperfections; they’d also peck at each other and continue to peck until some of my poor chickens had no feathers left on their back side. Sad looking creatures, they were!

One day as I sat quietly before the Lord with a listening heart, I asked Him if there was anything He wanted to share with me in our time together. In my mind’s eye, I saw a big chicken head coming closer and closer and closer. The head became bigger and bigger and bigger and came so close to me that I began to feel invaded and somewhat afraid. “Why is this chicken coming at me? Why do even I see a chicken?” I asked. As I continued to watch and interact with the Lord, I wondered if this chicken was symbolizing God. “Are you coming close to inspect me - are you wanting to point out something in my life that needs to be addressed?” I’m aware that God brings correction to me at times, but this intriguing picture didn’t seem to hold that message for me.
I noticed that although the chicken was so close with its eye inspecting every part of me, it wasn’t pecking me. It wasn’t finding fault with anything it saw. The chicken continued to look at me so thoroughly, but still, no pecking occurred.

I began to understand the message that God was so uniquely and personally sharing with me. God’s objective – although He sees everything and knows everything about me – isn’t to find fault with me. His character isn’t like my fault-finding chickens. Nor is it like mine which too often resembles that of my chickens. Rather, God sees me through grace. He sees me through Christ’s righteousness.

Oh, I pray that we would grasp that truth – that God would open our eyes to understand the grace that He lavishly pours out on us through Jesus Christ.

So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view (or "according to the flesh" ESV). Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 NIV

I’m convinced that when we have this truth rooted and growing in our hearts, we will more readily reflect God’s character than the character of fault-finding chickens!

Tumbleweeds....

Occasionally our travels have taken us through Texas, New Mexico and the deserts of Arizona. On such occasions, while driving we will see signs that say "Caution, strong wind gusts." Sometimes the wind is so strong it feels like it is going to lift your car right off the ground.  If you are driving through the the desert, you can see tumbleweeds rolling across the barren fields.  Sometimes they will be rolling beside the car.  Several times they have rolled across the field right into the path of our car.  

I have read that tumbleweeds can carry up to 250,000 seeds that reproduce themselves as they drop upon the ground.  Isn't that crazy? As I understand it, they are a round bushy plant that grows to about 3 feet tall and in some places 4 feet.  As they mature, they break away from the plant and because they are round, roll aimlessly, where ever the wind blows.  They have no direction, and no purpose.

We can become like a tumbleweed... dry and brittle with thorns poking us and rolling us with the wind; rolling and rolling until we  bump into something that stops us.  Tumbleweed seeds remind me of the brokenness of this world... the cares that rob us of direction; of a dry and thirsty land where there is no water.

We can get that way when we lose direction in God's Word.  Some people flip through the Bible hoping that a particular verse will jump out at them and get them through the day.  Some close their eyes, open the Bible, put their finger on a verse and believe that is God's Word for them for that day... but, I need more than that.  I have to have consistency in my relationship with God.  I do not want to be like one of those 250,000 seeds that hit the barren, dusty ground.... destined to a life of aimlessness. I do not want to be like a tumbleweed.  I would much rather be like branches on a grapevine that produce good fruit, even if at times some of the branches have to be pruned.

John 15: 1-9  is a strong encouragement to us...

"I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener.  He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.  You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.  Remain in me, and I will remain in you.  No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine.  Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

I am the vine; you are the branches.  If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.  If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into  the fire and burned.  If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.  This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.  Now remain in my love."

The secret is abiding... the secret is staying attached... the secret is knowing that you can do nothing without Him... 

The Worried Heart

What's wrong with a little worry...after all...I'm a woman...it's what we do.

I worry every single time my children get in the car with someone else. I worry about their health...their education...their self esteem...their hearts and their relationship with God.

I worry about my husband....okay...let's get real...my husband reads this blog so...the truth is...I probably worry about him more than I let on. I worry about the temptations he's faced with...the decisions he has to make...I worry about the worries that he worries about. I'm crazy about him so...I worry about something happening to him...I'd never want to lose him.

I worry about my parents and siblings...Oh, they read this blog too...I worry about their health, their hearts and yes...I've even worried about their worries too.

I worry about change and this crazy world that seems to get crazier. I worry about society and increasing violence and that ever present feeling that we are so close to the end times.

So, what's a worried woman to do?

Be Free I say. God has had me on a journey of freedom for some time now and it's just one more reason why I love Him so. It's not easy letting go of our tight fisted worries and putting them in the hands of Jesus. I know that. But our worries and our fears keep us from trusting Him. They keep us burdened down and our thoughts consumed. Worries cause stress, headaches and ulcers....and I bet they cause premature wrinkles...seriously....worries are nastier than you think!

The evil one doesn't want you to believe this....but...God is big enough.
Hear me now. He is big enough for whatever is going on in your life and in your heart and in the lives of the ones you love.

2 Timothy 1:7
...for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

Philippians 4:6-7
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

As I daily...and yes, I even mean today...take my worries and put them in the hands of Jesus...trusting Him and thanking Him and sharing my hearts desires with Him...I pray that you will do the same.

Let's be free together.

I love the left hand of the Lord. We don't read much about it in the Bible, but it is definitely there. And I love it, (Have I said that already?) and I'll tell you why. But first, you need to know about his right hand.

Your right hand, O LORD, glorious in power, your right hand, O LORD, shatters the enemy. Exodus 15:6

Shouts of joy and victory resound in the tents of the righteous: "The LORD's right hand has done mighty things! The LORD's right hand is lifted high; the LORD's right hand has done mighty things!" Psalm 118:15-16

The Lord's right hand is mighty, powerful and "lifted high" against my enemies. His right hand is at work on my behalf.

Then see what happens:

For I, the LORD your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, "Fear not, I am the one who helps you." Isaiah 41:13

The way I see it, if he is working and warring with his right hand, he must be holding my right hand in his left. We are walking side by side, his left hand holding my right. And he is doing the holding, "I... hold your right hand," and says to me, "Don't be afraid, I AM the one who helps you." (my paraphrase and capitalization)

I have a dear memory that God used as a precurser to this picture of truth. When my husband and I were dating, we loved to go on walks. He would always have me walk on his left side so that he could protect me with his right arm, should I need protecting. (I love it that he actually thought of that!) If we were holding hands, then his right hand was free. One day we went for a walk in the woods. It was in the fall when there were many spider webs (with really big spiders in them) in the bushes and trees of the forest. As we walked hand in hand along the trail, he carried a stick in his right hand with which to knock down the spider webs that were across our path. He held my hand, and he did all the work and saved me from the spiders.

Do you see it? When God is holding my right hand, my strong arm (since I am right handed) is not able to do anything. It is being held tightly and rendered powerless by his left hand, while his powerful, strong, mighty, victorious right hand is doing all the work. And I am able to rest and be comforted. Amazing God.

Is your world feeling unstable? Are you tired of working so hard? Give him your hand and declare with me:

I have set the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. Psalm 16:8

Last week I read Karen Kingsbury’s booked called Sunset. It is the last of the series and I had to push myself to finish the book so I could say I completed all the series about the Baxter family. I read this quote and it made me reflect on my marriage and the journey God has brought me on:

“A marriage isn’t something you lose. It’s something you work to keep or it’s something you willingly let go.” (Quote taken from Karen Kingsbury’s book “Sunset.”)

I wouldn’t be who I am today if it weren’t for the experiences I’ve had in my marriage. Already my first year of marriage was rough. It was a big adjustment for me learning how to share my space and have someone around 24/7 who didn’t do things the same way as I did. My husband has all these little quirks that just drove me crazy. I think I had more for him to deal with and that drove him even crazier. We went into years 2-3 and during that time had so many fights that we separated a couple times and were ready to call it quits. At one point in this process I had an appointment with a divorce lawyer so that I could end this marriage. I didn’t want to work at it any more.

God had other plans for me. One day I was driving along the road and I was so angry with my husband for something that obviously really bothered me and upset me. Shows how important it was as I cannot remember what we had fought about. A speaker was on the radio talking about marriage and that it is a lifetime commitment and that when couples reach the point in their marriage where it gets worse, they give up instead of remembering their promise they made on their wedding day: “ for better or for worse, in sickness in health…” What was the significance of the wedding band being in a circular shape? A circle has no end just as our commitment to marriage shouldn’t either. I heard what he said about making love a choice… choose to love your spouse… choose to be committed and don’t give up. Those were the last words I wanted to hear yet God knew in that moment I needed to hear them.

Those words were a turning point for me. I couldn’t drive because my eyes were flooded with tears so I had to pull over. There on the side of the road God met me in my brokenness and changed my heart. From that point on I saw that love was a choice and that I had to love my husband above myself and put his needs before mine. I never understood that part until this moment and when I had to walk in God’s truth. The change started in me. I tried to change my husband but God needed to change my heart.

My marriage is not perfect. It is a daily work in progress but God has restored our marriage to the way He designed marriage to be. He chose my husband for me and knew he was the best person for me. My marriage definitely is something that I have to work to keep and I see how willing I was to let it go.

“Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.” ~ Romans 12:9

What I went through in my marriage was real. I experienced real anger... real disappointment…. real frustration. The fights we had were real. I had to go through our separations and counseling to be the woman I am today… Would I trade them? Walking through each of the experiences was painful and still is today as I reflect on them. Did they help me grow? Most definitely…. I can honestly say I’ve grown from them and I’m thankful for what I went through. God doesn’t take us around the valley but through them. He has plans for me and for that I’m thankful.

How has God brought you healing?
Where are you at in your marriage?
What does submission look like for you?
Perhaps you might be walking in a lonely time in your marriage and can’t see a way out.
What do you have to praise God for today?

We'd love to hear from you.
God bless!