13 But Moses said to the people, “Don’t be afraid. Stand firm and see the LORD’s salvation He will provide for you today; for the Egyptians you see today, you will never see again. 14 The LORD will fight for you; you must be quiet.” Exodus 14:13-14 HCSB
"You must be quiet." Other versions say, "You must be still."
I don't know about you, but those four words--at times--are the hardest words to heed.
What do You mean Lord, be quiet, be still? Lord, You may not be aware of this fact, but You do need my help--no disrespectfulness intended. No, My child, I don't. But you don't understand Lord--I have to be in control! No one else understands this situation better than me and besides I can do it better than anyone! No, My child, you aren't, but I am. All I need for you to do is sit still and be quiet. Trust Me. I know you better than anyone,including yourself. For better or for worse, I will take care of you. I will go to bat for you. Don't you remember? Can you forget the cross? The manger? I've been from the beginning to the end for you. You need to STOP. You need to LET GO. You need to RELEASE.
Your Heavenly Father is your biggest ally. Do you realize that? Do you truly & completely realize that? Do you realize that at times, when we think or feel that we are helping, we are actually hindering? That while we are trying to do it all on our own relying upon our own strength and wisdom, that all we are truly doing is blocking Him from being the protector, Father and Savior that He wants and was designed to be?
When you find yourself in one of those moments, please be humble & wise enough to stop, step back, and pray for God's infinite wisdom to come and cover the situation. To give you the grace to just sit and be still. To trust in His love for you and to be able to listen to Him. It will be the best quiet time you could possibly have!
2 The LORD is my strength and my song;
He has become my salvation.
This is my God, and I will praise Him,
my father’s God, and I will exalt Him. Exodus 15:2 HCSB
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Monday, December 19, 2011
Busy, Busy, Busy
"7 And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn." Luke 2:7 NKJV
Busy, busy, busy! We are always so busy! And then they add Christmas to the list! The nerve! Can you believe it? What do they expect from me? After all, I'm only one person! I can't wait for Christmas to be over!
Is that you? Do you hear yourself saying those things? Or think them? If so--how sad. How terribly sad.
This should be the one of the most awesomeness times of the year. You are experiencing the beginning of a miracle. Oh, there are so many miracles in the Christmas story--too many to name now.
Just the fact that Jesus came to Earth in the form of a little baby, for you. Just for you. Unlike many babies, He knew when He was going to die and how. He knew that it would not be a pleasant life's journey. Oh, there would be a moment here and there--friendships made along the way, beautiful sunrises and glorious sunsets, close spiritual moments with His Father and angels along the way. But mixed in--the knowledge of never being really accepted, being homesick for home, being misjudged. Yet knowing all of this, He came anyway. For you. For me.
Who has made Christmas the busy, tense time of year? Was it Jesus? Was it God? The Holy Spirit? No. It was us--mankind.
Let's not take away from Him what He's so richly entitled to--to be the first and foremost in our thoughts and lives. Let's not be like the inn--too full to let Him be there. Let's pray for all the clutter, all the busyness, to go to the back of your mind. This leaves room for your Lord to be in the front. For your first thoughts to be from Him and about Him. So that He has room to speak with you. To guide you.
During this last six days before Christmas Day, seek His face. Look for it everywhere and in every place. Let His presence bring order to your thoughts, feelings and life. In doing this, you are insured to having His infusing Peace enter your entire being.
And pray. Pray that if you have lost that joyful, expecting a wondrous moment feeling that only Christmas can bring, to have Him to please bring it back. And then receive it.
Have a CHRISTmas kind of day today!
"10 Then the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.'" Luke 2:10-11 NKJV
Busy, busy, busy! We are always so busy! And then they add Christmas to the list! The nerve! Can you believe it? What do they expect from me? After all, I'm only one person! I can't wait for Christmas to be over!
Is that you? Do you hear yourself saying those things? Or think them? If so--how sad. How terribly sad.
This should be the one of the most awesomeness times of the year. You are experiencing the beginning of a miracle. Oh, there are so many miracles in the Christmas story--too many to name now.
Just the fact that Jesus came to Earth in the form of a little baby, for you. Just for you. Unlike many babies, He knew when He was going to die and how. He knew that it would not be a pleasant life's journey. Oh, there would be a moment here and there--friendships made along the way, beautiful sunrises and glorious sunsets, close spiritual moments with His Father and angels along the way. But mixed in--the knowledge of never being really accepted, being homesick for home, being misjudged. Yet knowing all of this, He came anyway. For you. For me.
Who has made Christmas the busy, tense time of year? Was it Jesus? Was it God? The Holy Spirit? No. It was us--mankind.
Let's not take away from Him what He's so richly entitled to--to be the first and foremost in our thoughts and lives. Let's not be like the inn--too full to let Him be there. Let's pray for all the clutter, all the busyness, to go to the back of your mind. This leaves room for your Lord to be in the front. For your first thoughts to be from Him and about Him. So that He has room to speak with you. To guide you.
During this last six days before Christmas Day, seek His face. Look for it everywhere and in every place. Let His presence bring order to your thoughts, feelings and life. In doing this, you are insured to having His infusing Peace enter your entire being.
And pray. Pray that if you have lost that joyful, expecting a wondrous moment feeling that only Christmas can bring, to have Him to please bring it back. And then receive it.
Have a CHRISTmas kind of day today!
"10 Then the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.'" Luke 2:10-11 NKJV
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Who's in Charge?
" 26 'Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars,
Stretching his wings toward the south?
27 Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up
And makes his nest on high?
28 On the cliff he dwells and lodges,
Upon the rocky crag, an inaccessible place.'" Job 39:26-29 NASB
God spoke these words to Job when he was in the midst of the storm. He, the Lord, was questioning Job. In essence, He was reminding Job who was God. Could Job speak to the hawk, telling him to spread his wings? Could Job control the eagle? No. Only Job's Lord could do that.
And then to me, it spoke of the power of my God. My God is the only God of all the Gods that has the power to rule the whole world. From the Heavens and above, to the depths of the land and the oceans below. My God is the only one that puts the hope of forever into my soul. My God is the only God that is strong enough and loves me enough to protect me--to put me upon that rocky crag, an inaccessible place, safe from my enemies.
As you go into this last week of this Christmas Season, let's focus of what should be the main gift we could give each other and that the Father yearns to give you--the gift of HOPE. I am not referring to the weak, wishing hope that the world wants to give us. No, we need to grasp the strong, mighty HOPE--the HOPE that means Faith. The HOPE that comes from the Father, Son & Holy Spirit. The HOPE--knowledge, faith, power--that gives your spirit light and strength in dark times.
On that night in Bethlehem--it was not just a baby that was born--it was HOPE.
"24 For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it." Romans 8:24-25 NASB
Stretching his wings toward the south?
27 Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up
And makes his nest on high?
28 On the cliff he dwells and lodges,
Upon the rocky crag, an inaccessible place.'" Job 39:26-29 NASB
God spoke these words to Job when he was in the midst of the storm. He, the Lord, was questioning Job. In essence, He was reminding Job who was God. Could Job speak to the hawk, telling him to spread his wings? Could Job control the eagle? No. Only Job's Lord could do that.
And then to me, it spoke of the power of my God. My God is the only God of all the Gods that has the power to rule the whole world. From the Heavens and above, to the depths of the land and the oceans below. My God is the only one that puts the hope of forever into my soul. My God is the only God that is strong enough and loves me enough to protect me--to put me upon that rocky crag, an inaccessible place, safe from my enemies.
As you go into this last week of this Christmas Season, let's focus of what should be the main gift we could give each other and that the Father yearns to give you--the gift of HOPE. I am not referring to the weak, wishing hope that the world wants to give us. No, we need to grasp the strong, mighty HOPE--the HOPE that means Faith. The HOPE that comes from the Father, Son & Holy Spirit. The HOPE--knowledge, faith, power--that gives your spirit light and strength in dark times.
On that night in Bethlehem--it was not just a baby that was born--it was HOPE.
"24 For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it." Romans 8:24-25 NASB
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Eastmas
"7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore He says:
“ When He ascended on high,
He led captivity captive,
And gave gifts to men.”
9 (Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)" Ephesians 4:7-10 NKJV
Let me throw a what could be a new thought at you to chew on. What if Easter actually started with Christmas?
What in the world is she talking about? To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure. I'm chewing on this new thought right along side of you. But this is something that my Lord has been putting into my spiritual thought life. What if? What if Christmas wasn't just about the birth. That without the birth, the cross wouldn't have been. That not only did Jesus die for me, but He was also born for me. Does this make a little sense?
As I said earlier, I don't have a clear picture of what this is all meaning. But I don't have to to be able to share this with you. Because, what my Lord shows me, may very well be different than what He wants to show you.
So, this Christmas season, I challenge you. I challenge you to take this thought and pray, mediate and ponder upon it. Ask your Lord to show you His special meaning that He has already designed for you to receive.
Shake up Christmas this year! Humbly and graciously ask for the gifts of new insight and understanding that will take you into a new and more intimate relationship with your Father this season.
Wow! What an AWESOME Christmas we will have! Can't you just sense it?!
"3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, 4 and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay." 1 Peter 1:3-4 NLT
“ When He ascended on high,
He led captivity captive,
And gave gifts to men.”
9 (Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)" Ephesians 4:7-10 NKJV
Let me throw a what could be a new thought at you to chew on. What if Easter actually started with Christmas?
What in the world is she talking about? To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure. I'm chewing on this new thought right along side of you. But this is something that my Lord has been putting into my spiritual thought life. What if? What if Christmas wasn't just about the birth. That without the birth, the cross wouldn't have been. That not only did Jesus die for me, but He was also born for me. Does this make a little sense?
As I said earlier, I don't have a clear picture of what this is all meaning. But I don't have to to be able to share this with you. Because, what my Lord shows me, may very well be different than what He wants to show you.
So, this Christmas season, I challenge you. I challenge you to take this thought and pray, mediate and ponder upon it. Ask your Lord to show you His special meaning that He has already designed for you to receive.
Shake up Christmas this year! Humbly and graciously ask for the gifts of new insight and understanding that will take you into a new and more intimate relationship with your Father this season.
Wow! What an AWESOME Christmas we will have! Can't you just sense it?!
"3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, 4 and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay." 1 Peter 1:3-4 NLT
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