A Living House

As many of you know, we have been experiencing a major transition in our lives in the area of where and when we worship.  For 23 years, we were part of one church, but that church has ceased to be.  A new fellowship has risen in a new place, but the old one is over and the building will soon be torn down.  There is no going back.  The only direction to move is forward, so that is what we are doing.  It isn’t easy.  It feels very strange at times, but God is still my Abba Father and Jesus is still Faithful and True.  The Holy Spirit is at work in each of our lives and it is very good.   

This week when we attended the weekly service, we were waiting for friends to arrive when I saw another dear friend across the room.  I hurried over to give her a hug and say hello before the service began.  As I went back to my seat, I realized that now I felt like I was at church.  Before that moment, it felt like any other place where you go, get a seat, experience an event and leave.  But after spending a few moments with my sweet friend, I felt the truth that I was a part of the Body of Christ in this place.  Even though there are many I don’t know, just knowing there was at least one there I did know made all the difference!

Coming and going, even entering into worship and responding to the message isn’t enough.  I need connection with other believers.  I need to join my faith and my life with theirs.  Isn’t that what church is all about?  I Peter 2:5 tells us, “You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”  We aren’t meant to be scattered stones.  We need to come together to be built into this spiritual house.  Paul makes this clear in Ephesians 2:22, “In Him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”  I have no clue what the future holds, but I believe with all my heart that it is my Abba’s intention that we be part of His house and I am trusting that He will fit us in exactly where He wants us.   

Dear Father, thank You for Your amazing love.  Thank You for Your incredible wisdom in designing us to need to be connected to one another.  Please help us trust Your plan and your timing in placing us where You would have us.  Please help us trust You even when we don’t understand Your blueprints.  We love You and we know being in Your hands is the very best place to be.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Feeling Overwhelmed?

Lately, I feel a bit of dread every time I check the news or even my email inbox.  There always seems to be another urgent message informing me that I need to SEND MONEY NOW and save the world from the latest threat to life as we’ve known it.  The worst part is that most of the threats are real!  The thing I have a harder time figuring out is how throwing money at the problem is going to fix it.  Everywhere I turn, I am confronted with the demand to do something to make a difference.  I hear this in the Body of Christ as well.  “How are you changing the world?” has become the new “How are you?”.  In some ways, this is not a bad thing.  For too long, it has been easy to stay self-focused and complacent about the world outside the walls of our homes and churches.  On the other hand, I feel overwhelmed with the huge array of need and the incredible number of claims on my response.  I don’t do well when I’m overwhelmed.  In fact, it usually paralyzes me and I end up doing nothing except beating myself up for doing nothing.  This morning, as I struggled to enter the presence of the Lord and hear His voice above all the noise in my head, I read Psalm 27.  Actually, since I had the house to myself, I sang it aloud.  If you’ve never tried singing the Psalms, I highly recommend it.  Singing those words to the Lord was powerful and my spirit was awakened and energized to respond to God.  I found myself pouring my heart out to Him with tears and yet, feeling a renewal of my courage as well. 

The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?
When the wicked came against me to eat up my flesh, My enemies and foes,
They stumbled and fell. Though an army may encamp against me,
My heart shall not fear; Though war may rise against me,
In this I will be confident. Psalm 27:1-3

What I believe the Lord is telling me is that He will show us what our part is in His plan.  Do not panic or be overwhelmed or leap into action apart from His direction.  He knows exactly where we are and who He has made us to be.  He will show us our place as we wait on Him and find our strength in Him.  

Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart;                       Wait, I say, on the Lord!  Psalm 27: 14

In the Boat!

“May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble; may the name of the God of Jacob defend you;  May He send you help from the sanctuary, and strengthen you out of Zion.”  Psalm 20:1

Last week, I told you about how the Lord has surprised me recently with the realization that I had a swamp in my heart and how He has uncovered some twisted, stinking thoughts lurking beneath the surface.  I’ve begun to see how I’ve been looking at my relationship with the Lord wrongly.  I’ve been talking about Jesus being the One who makes me right with God, but I’ve continued to slip back into living as if I am still trying to earn rightness with God every day.  Instead of seeing that He came and pulled me out of the murky water where I was drowning and put me safely into His boat, I’m acting as if He has just given me a better motor for mine.  The truth is that apart from Jesus, I don’t have a boat and I’m not a very good swimmer either!  So, that is where I am today.  I’m in His boat.  I didn’t build it.  I’m not steering it.  I am not even sure of where it is headed, but I am in it, and I trust the One who knows all the answers to my questions.  What I hear the Lord saying to me today is this,

“Trust Me.  I have you.  You are safe in me.  Stop treading water.  You really are in the boat!  Yes, there are high winds and storms sometimes, but never think that I have left you helpless.  Call on Me.  Cry out to Me.  Pour out your heart to Me.  I will answer.  I will give you what you need.  I am all you will ever need.  Settle it today in your heart – apart from Me you can do nothing.  Everything good comes from Me.  Don’t fret because of what you see others doing.  Trust Me to show you your path and give you grace to walk it.  I love you with an everlasting love.  Take joy in knowing this.  Everyone is looking for a perfect home.  You have it in Me.”    

Drain the Swamp!

My husband has been praying an unusual prayer lately.  He has been asking the Lord to “drain the swamp.”   Driving East from New Orleans along Highway 10 you can see swamp land that is very lovely, down in the Louisiana bayous where the tall cypress trees rise up out of the murky water and trail Spanish moss from their limbs.  However, I don’t think that is the mental image my husband has in mind.  His swamp is the kind of place where the water is so stagnant that you smell it before you see it.  The surface is covered with scum and you do not want to know what lurks beneath the surface.   I believe this prayer to drain the swamp came from the Lord.  Who else could tell a man he has a swamp in his heart and enable him to respond with the faith to believe He can and will drain it?  So far, so good, but here’s the weird thing:  my swamp is getting drained, too, and I didn’t even know I had one!  I honestly thought I was doing okay.  I was in a good place.  Then the waters started drying up and things began to appear that I hadn’t known were there:    twisted, stinking thoughts and emotions with big ugly roots going down into my heart.  Just like those massive cypress roots, there are some assumptions and beliefs in my heart that my Abba Father wants to deal with.  He called me to be an oak of righteousness, not a swamp cypress.   So, here’s where I am – facing up to what is being revealed, choosing to believe I am still loved and accepted by my Father God, and trusting Him to complete what He has begun.   I’m realizing once again that most of my yucky stuff stems from still trying to be perfect and in control.  I’m praying for the grace to lay those impossibilities down at the feet of the Lord Jesus and the courage to get up and walk every day in a new life where I trust His righteousness to be all I need.   So far, trying to do everything right and remain in control at all times has only made me a fearful, brittle, frazzled mess.  I believe the life I’ve been called to looks very different and I want to choose that life. 

Abba Father, I can’t change me, but I know You can.  Please enable me to cooperate with all that You are doing.  Please enable me to hear and obey, believe and walk in the freedom in Christ Jesus that is mine.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

He is sure

Ecclesiastes 3:1 tells us that “there is a time for every purpose under heaven.”  The next seven verses go on to describe many actions for which there is a time, and each one is listed with an opposite action.  “A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest.  A time to tear down and a time to build up.”  There is even “a time to keep and a time to throw away.” 

Clearly the writer has been around long enough to know that in this life things are always changing.  Sometimes it is slow and barely visible, like the opening of a bud or the growth of a child from week to week.  Other times it is a total rearrangement of the furniture of our lives that leaves us feeling tossed about like a little boat on the open sea.  My mental image for this has been the deck of the Titanic tilted to a 45 degree angle.  Everything is sliding, but I don’t think I’m sinking.  It is just really hard to keep my balance.  Nothing seems sure, but I hear my Abba Father saying He is sure.  He is my rock and His love is the ocean beneath me.  His mercy and grace are as high as the puffy white cloud mountains in the sky.  He says, “I have not abandoned you.  I am holding you by the hand.  In fact, I am holding you and your entire world in my hand.  Trust Me to be God.  Trust Me to be good.  Because I AM.” 

Thank You, Lord!  I will trust You.  I choose to embrace this time and all its uncertainty, because I know that it is simply the next step in a journey that ends in Your arms.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

So Simple

Here is all I know this week:  God is God and I’m not.  He can do anything.  Apart from Him, I can do NOTHING! 

The Amplified Bible says it this way, “I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in Me and I in him bears much (abundant) fruit. However, apart from Me [cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing.”  John 15:5 

I find it very easy to forget I am only a branch.  It happens so easily.  I begin to think I am the Vine and if I don’t make fruit happen, then it just won’t.  Sometimes, I get really crazy and start thinking I am the Gardener and it is my job to take care of all the other branches.  For a branch, this is not only exhausting, but downright impossible. 

So…deep breath…I say to myself, “Hey, you are a branch.  All that frantic activity – mental, emotional or physical – that is not your job.”  Then I hear the Holy Spirit’s sweet still voice saying, “Just live in Me.  It really is that simple.  Lay down your plans, your worries, your cares, and rest in the fact that I am good and I know what I am doing.” 

He said it this way to Jeremiah, “I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”  (Jer. 29:11 NLT)

All I really need to concern myself with is living in Him.  For me this means waking up and making the choice to believe I am in Him.  He has brought me through the night and He will see me through the day.  He will lead and I will follow.  That is how simple it really is. 

Abba Father, I’m so tempted to make it more complicated, to make a to-do list of how to be in You.  Please, teach me to simply, humbly live in You, for Your good pleasure and glory.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Step Up and Stand Firm

Do you ever feel like a failure?  I woke up yesterday morning from a dream in which I was sitting in a school desk and in front of me was a paper with a big ‘F’ on it.  It was even circled for extra emphasis!  Realizing this was not the best way to begin the day, I began to cry out, in a rather whiny way, to the Lord for help.  Instantly, I heard His response in my spirit, “You feel like a failure, but your feeler is wrong. You don’t need to be rescued from these bad feelings, you simply need to stand up and believe and speak the truth about yourself.  This is maturity.  This is your call to step up and manage what you have been given.  To walk in strength you must not listen to lies or those who would advise you who don’t share your goal.”  At this point, I had to ask myself, “What is my goal?”  I realize my goal might be different from yours.  I know we are all at different places in our journeys.  For now, my goal is to stand by my husband in training our children to walk in strength and truth.  I also want to walk in strength and truth, myself.  I want to be ready to move on from laying the foundation stones of salvation, forgiveness, and acceptance.  I want to hear His voice and do what I see Him showing me to do – each day.  Being human, especially a female human, means having to deal with a body full of crazy hormones that fluctuate wildly from one day to the next.  I want to know that truth is still truth on the days when I can’t seem to put down the potato chip bag or my emotions are in a free-fall.  Essentially, those are the times when we just have to gut it out, as my husband likes to say.  This means thinking and doing what I know is right, regardless of the total lack of warm fuzzy feelings.  These are the times when going back to the Word and taking in truth as a life-saving substance is so vital.  Yesterday, I found Hebrews 4 and 6 most helpful.  I encourage you to read them.  I will leave you with a few highlights.

“We who have run for our very lives to God have every reason to grab the promised hope with both hands and never let go. It's an unbreakable spiritual lifeline, reaching past all appearances right to the very presence of God where Jesus, running on ahead of us, has taken up his permanent post as high priest for us…”  Hebrews 6:18-20 The Message

“Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”  Hebrews 4:14-16  NKJV

Abba, thank You, for your Word and for Your faithfulness. Please keep us faithful to You. In Jesus’ strong and mighty name, Amen.