There is Nothing New Under The Sun...

Not Much Has Changed...

"What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one can say, "Look! This is something new"? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time. No one remembers the former generations, and even those yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow them. (Ecclesiastes 1:9-10)

When you really stop and think about it, not much has changed at all with regards to human nature since the times written in the Bible.  I found myself thinking of Sarah today (earlier called Sarai).  Sarah, the wife of Abraham who was unable to conceive, as a woman she must have felt a tremendous amount of frustration.  Think about it – all Sarah’s friends around her having babies, raising families and there she is waiting to conceive a child herself.  I can imagine the thoughts going through her head.

“What’s wrong with me? Why can’t I produce a child? Look at Sister So-and-So over there. SHE has a child.  What is the matter with me?”  How she must of coveted and emotionally beaten herself up over her lack of being able to conceive.  Not to mention the fact she must have driven Abraham crazy! “Come on! Let’s try it again!  And again!  And ohhhh Abraham, can you come here for a few minutes????...”  Did Abraham see her coming and then turn around and quickly go in the opposite direction?  We women have a way of focusing on something and not letting go.  I’m quite sure if things are the same now as they were then, women were no different.

God had promised Sarah and Abraham a child, but He did not say when.  How hard it must have been for the years to have passed and still that promise had not come to fruition.  How did Sarah not become bitter? As her friends children grew up around her how hard it must have been to continue believing that God would honor that promise.  I can easily understand how Sarah reviewed the promise in her head over and over and over again.  “Maybe God meant it this way… Maybe I need to do this…” Sarah reached a point where she began to question HOW God would provide that child.  “Maybe I misunderstood Him… Maybe that child was not to come from out of my own body… Perhaps my interpretation of His promise was misunderstood…”   Desperation makes us do strange things.

Can you imagine the state of her desperation out of having a child by making the decision to give Abraham her maid servant to conceive a child?  Now I don’t know about YOU, but I cannot even imagine the amount of frustration it would take ME to turn the man I love over to another woman to sleep with and conceive a child.  (Honestly, she MUST have been desperate!)  Which is what Sarah did, and Ishmael was conceived.  Sarah took matters into her own hands instead of trusting in God’s promise and decided to “help” God.  

“Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not been able to bear children for him. But she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar. So Sarai said to Abram, “The Lord has prevented me from having children. Go and sleep with my servant. Perhaps I can have children through her.” And Abram agreed with Sarai’s proposal. So Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian servant and gave her to Abram as a wife.

So Abram had sexual relations with Hagar, and she became pregnant. But when Hagar knew she was pregnant, she began to treat her mistress, Sarai, with contempt. Then Sarai said to Abram, “This is all your fault! I put my servant into your arms, but now that she’s pregnant she treats me with contempt. The Lord will show who’s wrong—you or me!” (Genesis 16:1-4)

The fact of the matter is that God doesn’t need our help.  When we try to “help” God we create a colossal mess.  This is yet another perfect example of how not much has changed since the days of the Bible.  Whenever we try to “help” God we make the same kind of messes.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9)

So many times we forget that God sees and knows so much more than we do and what a mess we make when we try to get into the mix of what His plans are for our own lives.

This is true even for the most mature believer, because our thoughts are not God’s thoughts it is hard to be patient and wait on answers to prayer.  The frustration over a prayer request is not something that has changed with the passage of time.  The questions Sarah must have asked the Lord are still the same questions we put before Him now.

“WHY Lord am I still waiting?  Is not the Creator of Heaven and Earth able to answer MY measly little prayer?”

Coveting sets in as we look around us and wonder WHY Sister so-and-so seems to have it so easy and we are still waiting on an answer He’s already given to HER. 

God wants us to trust Him.  Trust that He knows what is best.  Trust that He is not witholding out on us.  Trust that He is able.  Trust in HIM.

Trust does not come easy.  Faith does not come in easy but it is what He desires.  Are we going to trust Him or put our faith on our own selves and “help God out.”

Later on in the story, Isaac is born to Sarah and Abraham.  The promise that God gave to them has been answered.  How surprised Abraham must have felt when God requested Him to sacrifice the answer to their prayer (Isaac) on an alter before Him.

“Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”

“Here I am,” he replied.

Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.” (Genesis 22:1-2)

 Abraham and Sarah had waited YEARS for this answered prayer and now God was asking Abraham to take Isaac up to be sacrificed.  I wonder if Sarah was aware of this, I don’t think it is mentioned whether or not she was told what was going to occur as Abraham in obedience began his journey with Isaac to do what the Lord had requested.  Personally I would not be surprised if Abraham had kept this from her until after the fact (although I don’t know, that’s my own two cents worth...).

Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”

Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, ⁷ Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”

“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.

“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”

Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.

When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”

“Here I am,” he replied.

 “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”

Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.” The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.” (Genesis 22:3-18)

Our thoughts are not God’s thoughts.  What an amazing amount of faith Abraham displayed in this true story before God.  He completely trusted God.  Oh that more of us would walk in that assurance, obedience and trust that God has our best interests at heart.  That God has “plans to prosper us and not to harm us, plans to give us hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11).

I know that my own faith is lacking. That the trials and tribulations I experience in my life are allowed by God so that I will draw nearer to Him and trust in Him. I rant and I rave and I get upset with Him.  Thank God for His love, His forgiveness, His grace and His patience.

Throughout the journey of each of our lives we are given a choice, we can try to direct our own path or we can patiently trust that God will provide for all our needs that He knows better than we do what should be the desires of our hearts.  It is not easy to be obedient.  There are many examples throughout the Bible, just as in the story of Sarah and Abraham where people have tried to “help” God and have made a mess of things.  What God did with those people is use their “mess” to give us a “message” so that we can learn from them using their experiences as an example.  That is one of the main reasons why the Bible should be used as our guidebook. I know that is “easier said than done” a lot of times. Our feelings in this day and era are no less intense than those back in the Biblical days, although I do believe that maybe even more so because we live in such a microwave society where we want what we want when we want it and now!

Thank God for His patience.  Thank God for His love, Thank God for His patience. Thank God for His amazing grace.  Maybe it is a good thing that He knows our thoughts before we even think them?

“You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, LORD, know it completely. You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.” (Psalms 139:1-6)

Nothing comes as a surprise to Him.  It is one of the reasons why I see no point in hiding my thoughts or my actions before Him.  How ridiculous is that?  I never could understand why Adam and Eve “hid” from God after they ate from the tree that He commanded them not to. We cannot hide from God.  He knows all and He sees all…

Waiting on God is not easy, no matter if it was back them or in the here and now.  Using wisdom when we make our life’s choices is something that will help us as we go forward in our walk with Him.  I struggle with this myself because patience is not one of my strong suits.  I talk with God through prayer as I write to you, my blog reader; I tend to have “temper tantrums” before my Father.  “When?! Why?! Why not?! I want it!” Type of responses to the moments in my life when He seems slow in answering my prayer requests.  Since I have come out of a prodigal experience I tend to still feel the “smarting” of that experience enough to apply that hard lesson to where I am currently at in my walk with the Lord which makes me more apt to “think” twice before I decide to “help God along” in answering whatever prayer request I am waiting upon.  No matter what my current request before Him is, I am in no way anxious to experience “burning my hand” again on a stove I was told previously not to touch.  Or as the saying goes, “once bitten, twice shy.”

We have a choice, we have freewill. We can either choose to learn quickly from the current life lesson we are in OR we can have to repeat the class over and over again until we learn what it is that God is trying to teach us. (And something we clearly forget is that usually it is for our OWN good).  I don’t know about you, but I want to learn what it is I need to learn so that I can move forward, graduate and go on to the next class, because the truth of the matter is that as long as we have breathe in our body, we will always be learning and always be growing. Until we are finally with Him.

CARRIE UNDERWOOD - Jesus Take The Wheel, Official Music Video High Quality

Who Has Your Wheel?

Are You Hard Headed?

Oh how hard headed we can often be! I have come to wonder how God puts up with ANY of us! (Myself included! Probably myself more than anyone else…) what’s it going to take for us to realize that God’s Word is true? That His promises are REAL? That He is a faithful God, not one to lie.  That the examples He has given us in His Word are there for a reason, for us to learn from?

I don’t know about you, but I have discovered that I am totally and completely hard headed!  I know I serve a patient God because He continues to be so patient with me!  Honestly, there are days when I want to run away from my own self!

God is not a “far away God” – the Bible tells us that:

“He is the same today as He was yesterday as He will be tomorrow.”  (Hebrews 13:8)

He is trustworthy.  Perhaps many of us have trouble believing this because of situations that have occurred in our lives.  People have made it hard for us to trust God in the manner that He deserves.  This is where faith comes in.

“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1)

We confuse our past experiences (or current) with how we should feel about God, or how He feels about us.  This is a huge mistake.  I have realized that we shouldn’t put God in the same category that we put people.  People disappoint us all the time!  God never will.  He has your best interests at heart.

There is a country singer, named Carrie Underwood who a few years ago came out with the song, “Jesus take the Wheel.”  The problem many of us encounter with our lives is that we think we are more capable of driving our lives than He is!  “I can do it Lord…”  Or we backseat drive – “No Lord, that’s not where I want to go… You made a wrong turn…”  Can you imagine us saying that to the One who knows and sees ALL things?  (I’m getting embarrassed because I am recognizing myself in this post…)

God does not want you to be a “part-time lover.”  He wants You (and me) to trust Him completely.  That’s not an easy thing to do when you are used to “driving your own car.”  I think the older I get, the harder this becomes.  Life experiences can make you pessimistic.  If you are not careful, your heart can be hardened.  Don’t make the mistake of hardening it towards God.  He is on YOUR side.  Sometimes I think we take out our disappointments and our anger on God instead of the situations or people who have made us feel that way in the first place!  It is misplaced distrust.  One of the hardest things to do is to pray for forgiveness, but the truth of the matter is that praying forgiveness over a situation frees you from it!  It takes a lot of emotion and energy to hold on anger or hurt towards someone.  LET IT GO.  I’m not saying it’s easy to do this – it’s not, so if you need help with it – go to the one WHO forgave YOU (and constantly forgives YOU for your sins) – Your Heavenly Father!  Be honest with Him!  I cannot tell you how often over the last month I have had had to pray, “Lord – I’m having a hard time letting go of these feelings.  I’m angry! I’m mad! I’m hurt!  I don’t have it in me to forgive this person (or situation) for causing me such heart pain – so I need YOU to help me with this.  It is bigger than I can handle. CHANGE MY HEART.” And in time, you will find as you are obedient and submit to Him in prayer, that you are able to truly genuinely pray for that individual and situation with a heartfelt forgiveness.”  The key is obedience in doing it, and not to go by your feelings.  Go by what God tells you to do.  Why? Because He tells you to do it!

“For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you.” (Matthew 6:14-15)

God knows that forgiveness frees you, un-forgiveness binds you up and keeps you from moving forward. Pray until it becomes genuine and you will see God change you, so that it truly does.

The life lessons that we go through should draw us nearer to God and make us wiser.  I don’t know about you, but if I reach out and touch a “forbidden stove” and get my hand burnt I’m in NO RUSH to touch another and experience the same pain!  Fool me once!  The lessons that we go through should teach us and show us that God has a rule book – The Bible.  There are rules in there and examples in there not because “God is a MEAN Father.” But because He knows that if we disobey and touch the “stove” we will get hurt.  We often think we know MORE than He does and then, when we “hurt” we mistakenly blame Him for our pain.

“God, I’m so sorry for those times I blamed you for my own stupidity.  For my own ignorance.  For my own choice in disobeying that which you told me not to do in the first place.  Forgive me for my disobedience and hard headedness and help me to realize that what you say, you say for my own good.  How much it must pain you when you see me go in a direction you did not mean me to go.  Forgive me for my sins and help me to hear your voice clearer and to allow YOU to drive my life.”

Life is a journey.  We each have our own individual journey, and there are lessons that are learned along the way.  We can choose to allow those lessons to help us grow and move forward, or we can allow those lessons to stunt us, bind us up and keep us stuck in a hole we have dug for ourselves.  Which do you choose?

I recently learned a huge lesson from a very painful experience, I am someone who you don’t have to tell twice, once is good enough for me.  It is what you do with what you learn that helps you mature and grow in your walk with Him.  It is how you APPLY that lesson.  What have you learned from it?  Are you allowing that lesson to help you help someone else with the knowledge you have gained? Extending the right hand of fellowship behind you to the grasp the hand of a brother or sister in Christ who is on the verge of learning what you have already been taught?  This is why God made us many members but one in the body of Christ.  (Romans 12:5) To help each other!

Now, when red flags go off in my head, I know that they are from the Holy Spirit and they are going off for a reason – for me to take consideration, use wisdom and proceed with caution.  I no longer ignore them.  The Holy Spirit is my “Jiminy Cricket” – and I have learned to allow It (The Holy Spirit) be my guide.

Who is driving your car? Do you like the direction you are going or are you feeling tremendously lost? If you are, it may be time that you allowed God to take control, He’s the BEST driver there is and He’ll show you (take you) places you have never even dreamed of.

 

Casting Crowns - East to West

Are YOU from the Island of Broken or Misfit Toys?

Are You from the Island of Misfit or Broken Toys?

Are you from the Island of misfit or broken toys?  It’s Christmas time and one of my favorite Christmas cartoons is Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer.    The reindeer who wasn’t accepted by all the other reindeers because he was “different.”  Instead of being considered “special” he was ostracized for his bright shiny red nose.  He was ashamed of himself, he wanted to be accepted so badly that he hid his bright shiny red nose by covering it up with dirt and mud.

We live in a world that considers Christians and the Bible to be “politically incorrect.”  Many Christians don’t want to be ostracized, they want to be accepted.  They hide the light of Christ that just wants to shine forth and radiate from deep within them behind layers of worldliness so that no one will know who they are in Christ.  Jesus said in the Word:

“For what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels." (Mark 8:38)

Here is the thing.  That light that comes into your life when you pray the sinner’s prayer:

“Dear Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner, and I ask for your forgiveness.  I believe you died for my sins and rose from the dead.  I trust and follow you as my Lord and Savior.  Guide my life and help me to do your will.  In Jesus’ name I pray – Amen.”

The Holy Spirit comes into your life.  He is the light.  If you prayed the above prayer with a true desire to know Jesus as your Lord and Savior the Holy Spirit takes residency up inside of you and as you grow in Christ, that light radiates.  As you seek His will for your life and experience that “peace that passes ALL understanding” the light of the Holy Spirit becomes stronger and stronger inside of you.  You begin to want MORE.  MORE of what God has for you.   You begin to focus on what is truly important.  *NOT* because anyone is making you but because your desire becomes more about doing God’s perfect will in your life.  You become passionate about God.  There is nothing like falling in love with God.  There are no words that I can type that would adequately describe what being in love with God is like.  You desire to do and to be in His will and that desire becomes stronger than anything else that would get in the way.  If you deny or hide that light - you become like a bottle of Champaign that’s top is about to burst off of it!

“But if I say, "I will not mention his word or speak anymore in his name," his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.” (Jeremiah 20:9)

If you hide the light of the Holy Spirit within you under the dirt and mud of the world you are experiencing a Prodigal time in your life.  That’s what a Prodigal experience is.  Your peace is gone, your joy is gone, your purpose is gone – and even if you won’t admit it to anyone else, deep inside YOU know it and God knows it too.

The world is the “island of broken toys” and the only true fix is allowing God to heal you.   I was driving into work today and I was thinking about Jesus.  I am not sure how long Jesus was up upon that cross (that is something that I intend to research , just out of curiosity) but while He was up there enduring the pain of the crucifixion He was looking through time – into the future and seeing YOU.  Seeing ME.  He stayed upon that cross because He loves us.  He died for forgiveness of our sins.  He took ALL our sins upon Himself and died for YOU and for ME.  That is almost more than my mind can even fathom.  I know that my sins are bad enough – but He died for ALL our sins.  He took our “mud and our dirt” upon Himself and died for us.  And when it was done, when he had taken upon Himself ALL the sins of the world (can you imagine that? ALL THE SINS OF THE ENTIRE WORLD?!!!)  He said:

"It is finished." With that, He bowed His head and gave up His Spirit.” (John 19:30)

I know I was from the Island of broken (misfit) toys.  Only it wasn’t toys, it was humans.  We are all from that “Island” that island is the world.  And unless you know the “fixer” of those broken pieces inside of you than you will continue to look for things that can put those pieces back together and which truly can’t.  There is only one “fixer” and that is the One who created you in the first place.  He loved you enough to die for you – you need to trust Him enough to fix you.  Give Him the opportunity to do so.  Otherwise you will continue to look for that which you can’t find – because what you really need is right there before you.  Open up your eyes and see it.  Ask for clarification, ask for wisdom, ask for guidance.  Ask Him to make Himself REAL to you and then watch and see what He does.

Get off your merry go round.  You're missing out on your true purpose! The same circumstances keep occurring in your life because you don’t have the ability within yourself to change them.  Unless you recognize that you will keep going “round and round” like a hamster running round and round on the round track in its cage.  Aren’t you tired of the same ol’ same ol’???  Something inside of you is crying out for more.  Even if you won’t admit that to anyone else take a moment and admit it to yourself.

He didn’t create you to be that “broken” or “misfit” person.  He created you with a purpose in mind.   You can hide underneath the mud and dirt of “wordly” acceptance but you and I both know that there is something deep within you that is dissatisfied and is crying out for more and it is a “more” that the world cannot give you because you were created with a deep need inside you to love God.  You can fill it with materialistic things or desires or with sex or drugs or alcohol or with keeping yourself so busy you don’t have time for anything else but that was *not* the intent that you were created and there will continue to feel a lack deep inside you.  It is a place that was meant only for you and God, nothing else can take His place and once you realize that, accept it and acknowledge it a healing and a peace occurs deep inside you.  A “reconnect.”  That’s where that “peace that passes all understanding” that the Bible speaks about in Philippian’s 4:7 comes in and there is nothing that the world can give you that can imitate that peace.

I know all of the above from personal experience, that is how I can write it and share it with you.  I was on that “merry go round” but I have come to realize that there is no greater place than being in the center of God’s will.  It is not an unattainable place for you to be.  He is not a God that He would jerk you around or try to make getting to know Him difficult.  He wants you to know Him. 

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. (Revelations 3:20)

He wants you to seek Him – you just have to want it.  Stop covering up your special, unique, precious light by all the mud and dirt of the world.  Aren’t you tired of that? Same ol’ stuff.  Same ol’ song.  Nothing can be fixed or changed unless YOU want it more than anything (or anyone) else.  It’s personal.  It’s about YOU and Him.  No one else.  Get off the merry go round and listen to what the God who died on the cross (because He loves you) has for you.  It’s the best gift you’ll ever receive and it’s good ALL year round, not just on Christmas.

There is a Purpose for YOU.

Wherever you are, what ever you are feeling, whatever you are going through or doing - I feel led to tell you, YOU are NOT a mistake.  God knew what He was doing when He made you.  God made you with a purpose in mind, whether you know it or not. God has a plan for your life.  Part of your life's journey is recognizing and discovering just what that plan is, you just have to believe. God tells us in His Word:

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you." (Jeremiah 1:5)

and

"Even the darkness is not dark to You, And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You. For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well.…" (Psalms 139:13)

No matter your situation, God wants you to know that He knows you intimately, He made you, He loves you and you can bet He has a plan for your life. 

If you don't believe me - ask Him and He will personally show you that it's true.  You can also search your Bible and find out for yourself.  (If you don't have or can't get a Bible, message me privately in the comments section below, and I'll see if we can find a way to get one to you).

I know, because He is doing it with ME and God is no respecter of persons.  I was born 3 months premature at a time when the hospitals didn't have all the "fancy" medical equipment they have now, I had to stay in the hospital for forty days and forty nights.  They thought I was going to die - but God knew otherwise.    It is one of the reasons why my mother named me "Kelly" (which means warrior or fighter).  He has a plan for my life and He has a plan for YOU.  He has no favorites.  But YOU can bet, He loves YOU special.  It's true, He does and if you are going through a prodigal time when you are journeying home and wondering how you are going to make it - know that He is right there with you, encouraging you and even though you don't know it - directing you right back home to Him.  The Bible says:

"There is NOTHING that can separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus." (Romans 8:38)

He directed you to this page because you needed to receive a Word from Him, for whatever it is you are going through or experiencing.  I have dedicated this blog to Him for Him to use as He chooses - and He chose to bring you to it.  Allow Him to guide you, to love you, to fill your heart with peace and to direct you - because you are important to Him.  He has called you by name.

"But now, thus says the LORD, your Creator, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel, "Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine!"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, Nor will the flame burn you." (Isaiah 43:1-2)

God is not a God that He would lie.  The truth is in His Word.  We need to believe it, believe Him and allow Him to mold us into whatever it is He wants us to be.  Believe me when I say that there is NO greater joy than to be used by God.  To realize the gifts He created you with and the fact that He wants you to use them!  That's why He gave them to you in the first place!  If you don't know what your calling is, PRAY.  He's not purposely trying to hide it from you, but He is a God who gave you free will - which means you have to seek Him on it because You want to really know what that plan is.  And as you do seek Him, He will reveal himself to you and will open up doors.

He's your Father, He loves You - He has called you by name.  You have a purpose  - find out what it is.  You'll be ever so glad you did...

Today-John Denver-lyrics

Count Your Blessings~

Life is GOOOOOOD!

I woke up this morning counting my blessings... It always gets my goat how people want to rush right from Thanksgiving to Christmas not giving Thanksgiving the respect it deserves.  It's *not* about the food - its about the thanks.

I don't know about you, but it made me a bit annoyed when I saw that stores were going to be open at 6pm Thanksgiving evening so that people could begin their "holiday shopping."  How sad is it that we live in a country that can't even spend ONE WHOLE DAY just giving thanks?  Something that we should do EVERY day.  It makes me shake my head...

What are you thankful for?  Do you have your health?  Be thankful!  Do you have family around you? Hug them up mighty much!  Do you have a roof over your head? Food in your belly?  You may not have everything you want (and who does?) but be thankful for the little things because when you really think about it - they amount to much.  This comes from a  cancer survivor who has learned not to take any day God gives me for granted.

New beginnings can be intimidating.  Change is scary - but it can also be exciting! Be open to new opportunities that present themselves to you.  You never know what's behind "door #2"  it may be exactly what you need.  Be prayerful but also be willing.  I say that from personal experience - with new beginnings ahead of me.  Don't be fearful be faithful and expect God to bless you because He wants to!  You just have to believe!

Look ahead of you - not behind.  The rearview mirror in a car is smaller than the wide window in front of you for a reason!  Think about this past year and be thankful for the lessons you learned, what are you taking with you from this year as it passes by? What are you leaving behind?  What are you looking forward to?  What are your hopes?  Your thoughts?  Your dreams?

Maybe the disappointments in our lives make the wonderful moments all the more meaningful and special?  New beginnings can be scary - but they can also be wonderful!  I recently bought a beautiful old fashioned quilted board that I am calling my "Bucket Board" for 2015.  I am pinning on it items that I plan on doing in 2015 and quite frankly, it's exciting!  I only pin on the board small items that signify something I'm going to do.  Things to look forward to!  Instead of being disappointed in the things that didn't work the way I wanted them to, I'm realizing that it just means I need to trust God and know that the "no's" in life may lead to better "yes' " than I can see.  I have to trust that God knows what He is doing, even if I don't understand it.  (Remembering once again that He sees in full while I only see in part.)  And instead of being upset about those "no's" I can praise Him and be thankful for the things that are going to be better in my life than the things that He has said no too.  (Does that make sense?)

My 2015 Bucket Board, a quilted fabric in an old historical frame! (From my favorite shop Paint & Rust & Pixie Dust!) - (Prior to posting a few items on it). The flowers are actually stick pins! Items on there currently? A Spring Re-enactment - New England is filled with people who LOVE history and history itself! I'm in good company! My silly Matchmaker's card - God only knows who He'll bring into my life in 2015! Yenta do your work! LOL! My info on Dennisport Summer Cottages.  These are just a few items on my bucket list for 2015. More to come!

The truth is, life is what you choose to make it! And its all in your perception.  You can choose to go through it heavy hearted and negative (and that is what your experience will be) or you can sit a little straighter, lift your chin up a little higher and say, "Okay! I'm ready for the good stuff Lord! Watch'a got in store for me?  Bring it!  And I thank you IN ADVANCE for it!"

What is it you want it to be?  If you don't know - think about it, pray about it and then go after your dreams.  Make them a reality.  God gave you gifts for a reason - to use!  One is never too old to learn - learn something new!

What are you thankful for? Think on these things or so the Bible says:

"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things." (Philippians 4:8)

Life is good.  There is always something to be thankful for. Think on these things.  Surround yourself with people who love you for who you are! Who build you up! Who take an interest in you! And take an interest in them!  Relationships are a two way street they involve giving and taking (or as I like to call it "receiving").    That's the only way they work!  What are you excited about for 2015?  Give thanks!  Spend some time appreciating all the good things in your life and thinking on them.  If there are bad things or things that have upset you this year - recognize them for what are/were.  We have no control over the decisions that other people make.  Pray for them.  If someone has disappointed you or hurt you - read my blogpost below - let it go. We can only take responsibility for ourselves. The decisions other people make, they make and we just have to accept it and move forward.  But moving forward can be a GOOD thing!  It helps you to learn and to grow as an individual.  Thank God for those growth moments - even if you experience "growing pains."  You learn, you grow and you move forward.

Spend time being thankful before you rush into the Christmas season.  Take a moment to count your blessings, view what your learned from the year soon to pass and plan as if you have a future!  Each day God gives us is a blank sheet of life that we are allowed to write upon.  Write well!

Tim McGraw - Live Like You Were Dying (Official Music Video)

Is Your "Check Engine Light" on? What Are YOU Doing About It?

My check engine light came on in my car a few days ago.  I kept looking at it with dread... Knowing that it wasn't a good sign, but not wanting to deal with what it *might* really mean, I knew it was a symptom to a problem, one that I would need to get resolved.  I have a great new friend who is an experienced auto mechanic who told me he would be happy to take a look at my car, and would fix it for me.  It was a sweet gesture, one that I sincerely appreciated, but I bought my car a year ago and it is under the warranty of the dealership - I knew where I needed to go to get it fixed - straight to the source, back to the dealership.  Sometimes the same thing happens to us.  A "check yourself" light appears (which most consider their conscience, but which I have come to know as a prompting of the Holy Spirit).  When that "check your spirit" light comes up within me, I know that I need to go right to my Creator and get checked and fixed for whatever isn't sitting right within me.

We often forget that when Jesus was crucified on that cross, He was crucified for YOUR sins and MINE.  He took upon Himself all the sins of the world.  That is amazing to me…  He looked through the course of history, down the road straight at you and I and added our sins to the load he was carrying.  Everyone else’s too.  We contributed to the pain and anguish Jesus took upon Himself on the cross.  It’s really humbling when you think about it.

Forgiveness - We are called to walk in it.  It is not a choice it is a command. The truth is that in order to receive forgiveness from God, we need to forgive.   You can’t move forward in your life if you are stuck on what someone else “did or didn’t do” to you, and in not walking in forgiveness, the only one who remains hurt by it and stagnated by it ultimately is – you.  You won’t be able to get past it.  You won’t be able to move forward – forgive.  The peace that floods your soul is well worth it.

It is easier said than done.  One of the hardest things to do; is to forgive.  Or even to ask for forgiveness.  But God commands us to do so.   The Bible says:

“Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:31-32)

We need to stop pointing the finger at someone else and take a good, hard look at ourselves.  “He did this to me!  She did this to me!  They said this! They did this!”  What did you do?  Examine your own heart.  Stop pointing the finger at someone else and take a good hard look at your own self.

From the beginning of time, beginning with Adam and Eve, people have blamed someone else for their own sins instead of taking responsibility for their own actions.  We feel ashamed when we go against God and therefore look to alleviate the blame and guilt by blaming someone else.

Why didn’t Adam dispute what the serpent said to Eve?  Why didn’t he protect her?  He was there.  He knew that what the snake had said was totally opposite to what God had told him.  He not only allowed her to listen and eat of the fruit, but also ate some himself.  Eve was quick to blame the serpent and Adam was quick to blame Eve.  They chose not to take responsibility for their own actions.

“They (Adam and Eve) heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” (Genesis 3:8-13)

This is something that many of us still do today. Instead of taking responsibility for the hurt and pain we have inflicted on someone else – we blame the individual, instead of taking responsibility for our own actions.  It is the same thing that Adam and Eve did.

"If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.” (1 John 1:8-10)

"Do not judge, or you too will be judged.  For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” (Matthew 7:1-5)

It is easy to see the wrong that someone else does, without first examining our own hearts to see what wrong we have done.  It has been the course throughout history.

The best thing we can do is pray.  Ask the Lord to check our own hearts to see if there is anything we need to correct within them and trust that if we have given our lives over to Him, He will help us to change whatever needs changing.

It’s not easy to forgive someone for hurting you.  I think the more you love someone, the more it hurts.  Maybe that is the measure? It may take time, it may take a lot of prayer or even fasting to get through it.  Be honest with God, let Him know that you are struggling with this.  Ask for His help.  There are some things we can’t do in our strength, we need to ask Him for His.  In forgiving someone it releases the “sting” of the pain of whatever the situation is and allows you to move forward resting in the knowledge that just as God has forgiven you, you have forgiven them, even if you have to start out by just faithfully saying what you are not yet feeling in your heart.  As you verbalize it over and over again it will eventually happen to be a reality, in God’s time.

“Lord, I’m hurting. I’m angry, I don’t feel forgiveness in my heart for this situation I feel deceived and really hurt.  I ask you to help me forgive _____________________ (name of individual(s)) as you have forgiven me for my sins. I ask you to help me to release  (her/him/them) from the pain they have caused me.  I willingly forgive (her/him/them).  Help me to walk in that forgiveness and make the words of my mouth be the truth in my heart.  I plead the precious blood of Jesus over this pain and ask that you make my forgiveness a reality so that I can let go and move forward.  I pray that (her/him/they) would come to know You as Lord and Savior so that they too can experience the forgiveness I have experienced in personally knowing you as my Lord and Savior.  I also ask for any pain I have unknowingly, unmeaningfully caused (him/her/them). Release me from unforgiveness and help me to move forward. In Jesus’ precious name I pray. AMEN.

 

Draw Me Close - Hillsong - Worship Video w/lyrics

Maybe...

Maybe the best thing is to not hide the pain behind anything that would numb it. Not to soothe it with any previous methods you once used, but to allow yourself to feel the full force of the anguish. 

To cry
To scream
 To feel.

Maybe in order for a wound to heal we have to wash all the dirt out of it and allow it to air dry before we can suture or bandage it up.

Maybe the methods we’ve used in the past have not healed the hurt only hidden it.

Maybe it’s okay to be disappointed or angry and plain ol’ upset.

Maybe in order to move forward, we need to step back…  Even if it is uncomfortable to do so… Let the hurt out. Allow yourself. Have you ever?

Maybe God is trying to show you something about yourself that you haven’t wanted to see.  Is He peeling your fingers off your own eyes?

Maybe sometimes life hurts so badly that we don’t want to face the pain.  What do you do in those moments? Deny it?  How many layers of denial is that wound festering under?

“He came to set the captives free.” (Luke 4:18)

Maybe gangrene has set in and it’s time for us to allow God to operate. To take out the infection.

Maybe it will feel better if we endure the pain of God cleaning it out instead of the continued familiar pain of carrying it ourselves.  Not sacrificing long term pain for short term gain by ignoring the fact that we’re hurting.

“A bruised reed He will not break and a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish.” (Isaiah 42:3)

“The Lord is near the broken hearted and those crushed in spirit.” (Psalms 34:18)

Maybe it’s time to change the song. To get rid of the refrain that has been engraved in your mind and replace it with a new one.

Maybe it’s time to make it better so that we can have it better.

Maybe we should be careful for what we pray for because if we received it, we would really realize that it wasn’t what it presented itself to be…  Not God’s best AT ALL. The red flags should not have been ignored.

Maybe our vision was wrong and God has to correct our spiritual discernment, like an eye doctor would correct our physical vision.

Maybe one day we will rejoice that God allowed the door to close instead of feeling the pain of that closure. 

"The steps of the righteous are ordained by God."  (Psalms 37:23)

The only way we are made “righteous” is by the precious blood of Jesus Christ who gave up His life that YOU may have life.

Maybe sometimes we just need to get out of our own way.  Stop blocking God’s best by what YOU think you want.  For the truth of the matter is if it doesn’t contain the fruit of the Spirit it’s not God’s best.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness and self-control. "  (Galatians 5:22-23)

Maybe if we do all of the above we shall be like:

“He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he causes me to stand on the heights.” (Psalms 18:33)

Maybe one day (even if it is not today) we will realize the why of it and be able to rejoice and praise God that He knows so much better than we do, and as we look around and count our blessings (those that only came into being once we let go of what we held so tightly, even to the point where God had to pry it out of our hands), we can thank God that He knew what was best for us all along. Like a grown child thanking a parent for their insight, wisdom and discipline; something at the time they were not able to do.

Maybe, if your hands are holding tight to something that you refuse to let go of, your fingers are not open wide to receive.  You deserve the “more” that God has for you –  let go and open your hands to receive a blessing so wide you will not be able to hold it with both hands!

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1)

Just believe.

Demi Lovato - Warrior (Official Video)

The Dog Whistle

What are you listening to? What message are you choosing to hear?

Sometimes there is so much noise around us that we cannot hear what it is that God is saying to us, so loud are our thoughts, the world, our situations that we mistake the "not hearing" for God not talking to us when all we simply need to do is get quiet.

When I was a little girl, my father brought me to a police auction, there were thousands of unclaimed stolen or found items that the Police Department decided to put to good use by selling and using the proceedings for a good purpose.  I remember sitting by my father's side watching bikes go up for auction, jewelry and other items.  I had my allowance in my jeans pocket and it wasn't until a tiny little dog whistle went up for auction that I realized what I wanted to bid on.  A small silver dog whistle.  I can't recall why I wanted to buy that dog whistle, maybe it was the fascination of something that you blew in that only dogs could hear.  But I bid upon it and I won.  I walked up to the podium to collect my winnings, blew into it and was fascinated by the fact that although all I heard was air going through this silver small instrument, any dogs near by could hear a high pitched whistle meant for their ears alone.

There are times when God wants us to quiet ourselves before Him so that we can hear what it is that He is saying to us.  Set aside the distractions and spend some time with Him and just listen.  We often miss what God is doing in our lives because we have our own agenda or life is yelling so loudly all around us that it is drowning out the voice of God, for no other reason than because we let it.

I reached a fevered point in my walk this past week where I had had enough of the noise.  Enough of the distractions, a point where I didn't want to hear the thoughts and accusations from my prodigal journey (that has been over) but still was haunting me.  I had enough!  It is when I reached that point when all the noise was harassing me and I was crying out to God to make it stop that I heard God tell me:

"Be still and know that I am God." (Psalms 46:10)

When I stilled myself (and that is something that takes a tremendous effort for me to do, because my mind is always going), He told me:

"Demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God and to take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." (2 Corinthians 10:5)

It was only when I did that, that my mind had no choice but to quiet.  Any accusation or something I was trying to put out of my mind and could not do - simply had to flee when I stated, "I don't want to think about that any longer.  I bring my mind and my thoughts under submission to Christ."  Amazingly, the thoughts left.  They couldn't harass me or hinder me anymore and I was filled with peace.  Now, whenever I see those thoughts trying to make their way back into my head I declare that my thoughts are to be under submission to Christ.

God wants you to hear what He is saying to you.  He wants you to put yourself in place where you can receive what it is He is saying.  Sometimes that is harder said than done.  (I know this personally because I am just that hard headed).  It isn't easy to quiet your mind - remember, the mind is the battlefield that ol' slewfoot tries to steal ground upon.  In writing this, I'm visualizing one of the battlefields of Gettysburg.  Opposite sides stood facing each other on opposite ends and then they charged against each other.  Yelling, "CHARGE!!!"  But first they came to the battlefield.  The battlefield is your mind.  Satan wants nothing better than to infiltrate your territory and he does it by whispering accusations and things in your ear.  You choose whether or not you are going to allow him to take ground, or you charge back with the Word of God as your weapon.  (This is why it is important to hide the Word of God in your heart).  Even the most mature of Christians forgets that this is the best weapon we can use against the attack of the enemy.  God's Word.  God's Word and when we don't know what else to do - prayer!  I realized this week that I had been trying to fight the thoughts and accusations that were coming into my mind with my own strength, or I was allowing those thoughts to seriously kick my butt.  I wasn't fighting back and God had already given me ALL the weapons I needed to fight.  Once I reached a point where I was in so much anguish and pain from allowing the enemy to beat me up that all I could do was drop to my knees and cry out - "NO MORE.  Oh God, NO MORE! I don't want to think these thoughts ANYMORE Lord.  HELP!"
That I heard Him so clearly tell me:

"Kelly - demolish every argument and every pretense that sets itself up against the knowledge of ME.  Any time those unwelcome thoughts or remembrances pop up in your mind you tell it that YOU are taking it CAPTIVE and make it obedient to ME."

I did and it cleared the battlefield.  Wiped the enemy right out.  Restored my peace and reminded me who it is who I have given control of my life - God.

Get your mind focused on Him.  Be still and know that He is God.  We can't do anything in and of ourselves - but in Him and by Him and through Him, we can do ANYTHING.  The battle has already been won - when Jesus died upon that cross and rose from the dead - He defeated the devil. It is walking IN that victory that it is the hard part. But He also tells us in His word:

"I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me."  (Philippians 4:13)

Who are you going to believe?

Barbra Streisand - A piece of sky