Focus

Yesterday, by divine intervention, I became a God-Mother . . . but as honored as I am by that, that's not the focus of my story. And although I want to go back about 12 years in time and tell you about my God-son . . . he's not the focus of my story either. The focus of my story is . . . no . . . before I get to far ahead of myself, let me first fill you in on some of the details that brought me to this honored day . . . then you will understand the real focus of my story.

Being a God-mother has always been a desire of my heart. Different religions have their own views on dedicating a child to God but as a result of my up-bringing, I was presented to the Lord by my very special Aunt and Uncle. As my 'God-parents' they voiced their 'fear of ' and 'dedication to' the Lord and in essence promised to influence me with that same devotion. I never knew a time when I had anything but a special love and reverence for them. In retrospect it seems that the desire of my heart to be a God-mother may have been born out of this unique bond that I had with them. Now that God has imparted 'God-motherhood' onto me, I thank Him for His glorious gift of that special love.

Now let me tell you a little bit about the joyfulness that is within the creation of my special God-son, Joshua Isaac. Joyfulness, you say . . . how can that be if he never drew a breath or cried a tear? What joy is there in the fact that he never felt his mother's touch? Have I confused you? I don't mean to be so mysterious but the fact of the matter is that Josh's life was aborted and therein lies a web of mystery and denial and regrets. The circumstances that surrounded Josh's existence quickly became extreme as the 'experts' told his parents that he was severely deformed . . . and then, as the complications mounted, they learned that his mother's life was being compromised. I wasn't there at the time but I have no doubt to suppose that the pressure was on. A decision had to be made. Confusion was at it's peak . . . and so Josh's life was cut off and our merciful God ushered him into His loving arms.

Now by worldly standards, the appropriate action was taken but who of us is greater than God Himself? As I understand it all of creation has a purpose. What possible purpose, you ask, could there have been for a life that was so incomplete and what of the life that was being compromised? Well, in and of myself I have no answers - only gratitude that I was never faced with such a challenge. The only response I know of for that question is found in Isaiah 55:8-9 for it is written "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways. As the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

And therein lies the focus of my story. The answer - not the problem. The answer is in a loving God who carried the burdens that would have otherwise overwhelmed Josh's mother. The answer is in the strength that is given, moment by moment, to challenge the cover-up of this secret sin. The answer is in the compassion and forgiveness and grace needed for healing. Now, 12 years later, a memorial service is held - closure is given - hope is instilled - peace enters the heart as the life of this child is celebrated. My honor was to have been there as a living witness of God's goodness. My honor was multiplied when God laid on my heart the responsibility of being Josh's God-mother. Joy filled day - yes! I had the joy filled privilege of celebrating his life. I have the joy of learning all that I can about him. I have the joy of telling you about God's faithfulness and love.

I once heard a reporter ask Darrell Scott, father of Rachel Scott, the first student shot down during the Columbine School massacre, "How is it possible to endure such a tragedy in your life? Sure of his faith and the unwavering faith of his daughter, Mr. Scott told the reporter, "What you focus on will ultimately consume you." Thankfully the Lord has brought that quote to my remembrance on countless occasions when I was in need. I offer it to you now as I remind you that it truly is all about HIM. Focus on the Answer not the problem.

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She Said Yes!

Well, she did it. She said yes. My daughter is getting married. The date has been set (10-10-10), the site has been reserved and the invitations ordered. Wow, it's amazing how all of this brings with it an onslaught of emotions and excitement and well . . . challenges.

Like any 'normal' mother/daughter relationship, ours has seen it's share of humanness. Looking back on the first 29 years of her life brings an array of remembrances which ultimately boil down into a melting pot of love. Ahhhhh, but as I recently discovered, this is only the beginning. From my vantage point it seems that in the coming months I may be faced with some of the most interesting opportunities to walk out my Christian life. Let me explain what I mean . . .

True to His faithfulness, the Lord lead me to a truth in Ephesians 4:1-3 which, if applied, is sure to revolutionize this wedding journey and help me on this path of becoming mother of the bride for it is written "Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other's faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace."

WOW - Peace and wedding - now there's an oxymoron!!! The selfish actions of others should roll off our backs? No grudges. No animosity. No resentment. No demands. How can it be that the Lord in all His goodness and love is urging us to be patient with one another. Is it possible that I should choose to draw people together rather than allow division? Do I really want others to show me the same amount of patient as I plan on showing them? Do you suppose that the dress she wears will even come close to being as beautiful as the love that is sure to be on display that day?

There's a million things to be done before the big day arrives. I suspect that I will personally deliver an invitation to the Lord to attend this wedding . . . maybe long before that goes out in the mail I should first invite Him to share in the preparations of the blessed event. Maybe as mother of the bride my daughter might learn more about applying the selflessness needed for a solid marriage if I first set a good example of being Christlike before, during and after her wedding day.

Lord Jesus, Sara's dad and I stood before you and pledged our undying devotion to one another - and to You - 38 years ago. Despite our inability to honor our committment Lord, You remained faithful and out of that union you blessed us with two treasures that are more valuable to us than life itself. I pray now Lord that you will enter into this event and bring Your peace and unity to all who join together to bring Your richness to the life of 'our' beloved daughter.
Amen and Amen.
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So What's The Big Mystery?

Why do you suppose it is that so many of us think that there is an aura of mystery around the 'art' of praying? So much so that there are countless books written on the subject. Well, the truth of the matter is that while it's hard to wrap your mind around some prayers, the most effective prayers are those that come from your heart's desire to communicate directly with the God of the universe (as scary as they may seem)!

As a kid growing up the only prayers I knew were from a book and many times they were directed to intercessors rather than to God Himself. Although some people may beg to differ with me, my experience is that that kind of prayer doesn't bring with it the encouragement needed to develop an intimate relationship with Jesus. For me the bottom line seemed to be that because the prayers were from someone else's heart, they didn't penetrate mine.

Now, a lifetime later, I read for myself that Jesus not only told us how important it is to pray but He lead by example. He prayed to give thanks before feeding thousands of people with just a couple loaves of bread and few fish. He prayed when people were coming to Him with their needs. And He prayed when His heart was in agony over His upcoming separation, for the very first time ever, from His Father.

Because of Christ's sacrifice and example, I have a grand appreciation for this privileged lifeline to God . . . a truth learned through a lesson called 'The Truth Project'. In it Dr. Tackett pointed out that if in our praying we realized that we were entering into the Throne Room of the Living God and there the Father stretched out His arms to us and said "Come closer my child. Let's talk" . . . we wouldn't have a hard time praying - we'd have a hard time getting up and leaving!!!!!!!

How wonderful it is that the Lord, through the Apostle Paul, directed us in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to "Pray continually." In that He is simply stretching out His arms to us and saying "Come closer my child. Let's talk". Mystery solved.

Father God, when I've lost the words I need to express to You my thoughts, my concerns and my love, please search my heart and know that I want nothing more than to be a child wrapped in Your loving arms. Help each of us Father to seek Your presence as we pray to draw ever closer to You.
Amen and Amen.
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Equal Time

When I was a kid in school I loved English class. Even then I loved to write and as strange as it sounds . . . I LOVED to diagram sentences (now there's a blast from the past!). How weird is that! Well, this morning as I spent time with the Lord I thought about how our sins separate us from God but thanks to Christ's sacrifice, our direct line of communication with God was opened. BUT then I stopped and questioned how much time I really devote to that privilege which Christ bought for me with His blood? How much time do I really spend with God in a day? Do I even spend a fraction of the time that I know He devotes to me?

Well, that lead me to diagram my life so that I could see what it is that I view as so important as to allow it to distract me from being still and knowing that He is God. Although I suspect that you will see a deep richness . . . I pray that you will also see the pitfalls that beset each of us in our day . . .
At the Center . . . GOD (yes, but . . .)
Off Shoots . . .
~ Family
~~ children, sisters, brother, cousins
~ Church
~~ Personal ministries
~~ Prayers
~~ Devotionals
~~ Studies
~~ Celebrate Recovery
~~ Disciplining
~~ Evangelizing
~~ Sermons
~ Friends
~~ to numerous to name but they are used by the Lord
~~~ to feed, encourage, teach, support, guide and direct
~ Personal
~~ Staples of life (house / car / food)
~~ Blogging
~~ Health
~~ Work

My life is rich with blessings - yes, I'm convinced that it's full - and to prove it to myself I took my diagraming to an obsessive level and compared what my life is now (saved) to what it was not so long ago (unsaved). What I found was that GOD has spent an enormous amount of time and effort on this one 'little' life. But more often than not I allow people and situations and distractions and busyness and challenges and the 'stuff' of life to creep in and all of a sudden I'm at the end of my day and God has been overshadowed by it all.

Where is there peace with that? Where is there joy except from the hand of God?

How about you? What does the diagram of your life look like?

Father God . . . You are greater than I can fathom. You are more worthy of my devotion than I can express. It is beyond my comprehension that your heart's desire is for me to love You. The God of the universe - my Creator - wants nothing more from me than me. I give you great thanks for Your tender loving care and unwavering patience with me. May I endeavor - every day of my life - to fulfill Your heart's desire.

Amen and Amen
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It's My Stuff . . . or is it?

Humbly I acknowledge that the Lord has given me the gift of generosity. I LOVE to share things. I LOVE to give things away. This was a nice quality in me before I was saved but since Christ came to live within me I have a new vision that enables me to realize that my former efforts weren't even close to being all that they could be . . . all that they should be! Now I realize that 'stuff' is just 'stuff' and if 'my stuff' would bless someone else then - to the extent possible - give whatever I can of 'my stuff' to bless someone else. BUT recently, I encountered a scratch of selfishness in what I arrogantly thought of as my armor of generosity. Let me explain . . .

Out of generosity I 'loaned' my umbrella to a friend during a rain storm. There was a need - I remembered my mother's assurance from years past noting that I wouldn't melt - so I confidently offered 'my stuff' in an effort to bless my friend. Two weeks later it rains again (that's what spring is all about, ya know) and after searching for it and wondering where in the world I had left it, I realized that my friend never returned my umbrella. I was no different then than I had been two weeks earlier - I could still prove my mother's statement to be correct - but now I began to think less than positive thoughts about my 'unthoughtful - ungrateful - unappreciative' friend because she never returned 'my stuff'. Now I'm in an uncomfortable position where I have to ask for it back . . . how RUDE! (said completely with tongue in cheek!)

But do you see what's really going on here? My focus changed . . . now it was on me rather than the needs of my friend. I began to justify my thoughts to get 'my stuff' back. It's 'my stuff' - surely I'm entitled to get it back. It's mine and I want it.

Then all of a sudden it hits me . . . my shining armor of generosity has a major crack in it. It was then that the Lord lead me to realize fully that greed had seeped in and that my otherwise noble act wasn't so noble after all. Ashamed, I turn to the Lord and asked Him (I confess, somewhat begrudgingly) to bless this person as she used 'my stuff'. A couple of weeks later I saw her with it and again that ugliness reared up within me but this time I asked the Lord to help ME to be ok with her having 'MY stuff'. And it is then that the Lord's light gave me insight to see that I didn't loan out 'MY stuff' . . . I loaned out 'HIS stuff'! Perspective . . . How crazy is that . . . I was being greedy about something that wasn't even mine!

So where do I go from here? Well, as far as I can tell the Lord hasn't felt the need to prompt my friend to return the umbrella so her blessings continue . . . and what about me, you ask. Well, I have every confidence that the Lord will see fit to give me a brand new umbrella . . . but I suspect that he'll have me wait at least until the two that are in the trunk of my car have seen some action!!!!!

How wonderful it is to have a God who is gentle in His teachings!
Praise Your Holy Name, Jesus!
Amen and Amen.
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Expectations vs Surrender

For awhile now I've been part of the team that presents a program at my church called "Celebrate Recovery". Although many people have the misconception that it's a program only for those struggling with drug or alcohol addictions, I'm living proof that it's so much more than that. The fact is that it's geared to help - anyone - with any hurt that has become a burden in their life, any hang up that is being dragged around like tattered baggage or any habit that has taken control of their life. These are things that keep us from being all that God intended for us to be. Through this program you go beyond the worldly approach to resolving issues and it brings Christ right into the center of your life . . . which, of course, is your only hope!

Every human on the planet has an issue or two that has clung to them over the years so if you ever have a chance to participate in a class, my advise to you would be to run, don't walk, to the next meeting . . . it's that powerful! But, of course, there is a secret to the success that is possible . . . but rather than jumping ahead of myself, let me share with you some insight that I gleaned this morning from my quiet time with the Lord . . .

One major factor that contributes to life controlling issues is in the area of unobtainable expectations. Here's what I mean . . . many expectations lead you to say to yourself . . . 'I want' and 'I deserve'. Your focus, while being set on yourself, is destructive and over time can lead to self-centeredness, bitterness, anger, unforgiveness and well, I think you can see where this is going. These then become the things that control every relationship you have in your life. These challenges flow over into your job, your friendships and even how you react to the clerk behind the counter. Over time you come to believe the lies that they represent.

So, what's the answer? If having unobtainable expectations lead you away from God what is it that draws you toward Him? Well, in Psalm 51:17 it is written "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. A humble and contrite heart - these, O God, You will not despise." SURRENDER is the answer - the sacrifice - the hope!!
More of Him and less of me.

He does not want us to suffer but rather He wants us to be submissive to His plan for our lives. And who, more than the One who created you, could fill you to the fullest. Who but your Creator is worthy to be the desire of your heart. Who but your Creator/Savior deserves everything you have to give through surrender?

As it is written in 1 Corinthians 2:9 "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has planned for those who love Him." Our ONLY hope is in the Truth of Jesus. May He ultimately be the only true expectation that we have in our lives.
Amen and Amen.
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For more info on the 'Celebrate Recovery' program go to www.celebraterecovery.com/au .

Compelled to Know Him More

Have you ever experienced the blessing of having a particular portion of God's Word just jump off of the page at you? One that you are compelled to figure out the REAL meaning of? For example, this one . . . It is written in Psalm 29:2 . . . "Worship the Lord in the splendor of His Holiness."

I admit that it would be easy enough to quickly bounce on to the next verse . . . all of the words are familiar to you . . . but wait, I challenge you to stop the world for a moment and soak in a few of those words. See if you don't melt away in their bounty . . .
~ Worship - Reverence, honor, devotion, extravagant respect
Wow - Is that what we do when we set ourselves aside and put Him first? The exposure of your heart seems raw and pure. How is it that we withhold it?
~ Splendor - Magnificence, most excellent
The word itself nearly takes your breath away (if you let it)
~ Holiness - To be perfect in goodness and righteousness
Who of us can deny His worthiness?
~ Perfect - Without flaws
We live in a world of such extreme imperfection so unless we force ourselves, it is nearly impossible to even consider what perfection might be like. Let's consider just an ordinary day . . . the birds are singing, but not to loudly. The sun is shining, but not so brightly that we must squint. The sounds you hear, the things you touch, the smells that bring ecstasy to your mind are all in harmony. Perfect!
~ Righteousness - Free from guilt and sin
Freedom personified.

If you were to (humbly) rewrite this verse in your own words you might say "The Lord, in the magnificence of His perfection, is worthy of my unbridled devotion."

As you apply the verse to your life today you might soon realize the importance of taking the time - everyday - to consider who this God is that you worship. In doing so you will realize fully that He IS worthy of your praise. He is perfect. He is magnificent . . . and He wants nothing more than for you to give yourself to Him.

Isn't it funny that as we are blessed by knowing Him more and yet at the very same time He is blessed by our worship. Talk about goodness.
Thank You, Jesus.
Amen and Amen
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What's the Difference?

Let me take you on a journey . . . one that will help you to uncover the 'secret' of eternal life. A secret you say? Well, not really, for Christ Himself in John 17:3 tells us "Now, this is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." And with that the secret is out. The 'secret' to eternal life is to KNOW Him . . . but not just more 'clinical' knowledge about Him . . . to KNOW Him, as Adam KNEW Eve and the result was an intimate union that yielded a child. When you KNOW God there is an intimate union that yields an outpouring of His Glory in your life. You might argue that 'everyone', whether in an intimate union with Him or not, can see His glory. What then is the difference?

Well, let me see if I can help you understand by painting you a picture . . .
Without an intimate union with God you see a sunset and say "Cool - nice sunset."
With an intimate union with God you hear an invitation from Him that says "Come into my World", see the incredible sunset that I've prepared for you. Check out the radiant glow of colors and feel the cool breeze that is sure to refresh you. Remember the promise that I've hidden in this spectacle of power and linger awhile, won't you, to see the twinkle of the stars that are soon to dance across the night sky. I've planned this evening just for you and I to enjoy. Listen and let the night sounds capture your imagination as I take pleasure in our time together.

Without an intimate union, the days pass and you barely remember that you ever saw such beauty. With an intimate union you are blessed as you recall your time together. The renewing of your heart is icing on the cake. Grateful for this special remembrance, you are lured, once again, to seek more intimate time with Him.

It's the difference between day and night . . . chocolate and vanilla . . . good and evil. KNOWING Him makes ALL the difference in this life . . . and in eternity!

Thank You, Jesus, for the incredible evening that prompted this posting. Please save me a place by the waters edge for my return visit!
Hallelujah!
Amen and Amen.
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In All His Glory

One of my favorite passages in God's Word is from Isaiah 6. In it Isaiah is given a peek at the immeasurable worthiness of God and as he leans forward in awe, he hears the angels point out that "the whole world is full of His glory."

Glory? What could that mean? Well, according to Mr. Webster, glory is a praiseworthy quality of magnificence. But surely the whole world can't boast of this magnificence . . . or can it?

Let's see, there are . . .
~ the mighty cedars of Lebanon.
~ And the beauty of Niagara Falls.
~ Let us not forget to consider the richness of the hills that seem to touch the heavens . . .
~ While I recall from my childhood the softness of moss under a tree.
~ And is it His glory that takes our breath away as we ponder the sights of the Alps?
~ But are we to consider His glory when faced with the complexity of the human body as well as the simplicity of a child's smile?
~ Is His glory the reason that we hear and see and feel the touch of the ocean waves as we walk along the shoreline?
~ Is it possible that we are to give thought to the pleasures that we taste and the flowers that we smell?
~ So how is it that we are drawn to the charm of a bubble bath as we relax stress away in His warmed H2O?
~ Stars that stay put. Cats that purr. Medicine that heals.

Oh, my . . . His glory IS everywhere. It IS endless. He IS magnificent! His love. His generosity. His desire for us to know Him.
How great IS our GOD!!

Thank You, Father, for Glorifying Your Son. Thank You, Jesus, for bringing your Glory to each of us who love you.
Worthy is the Lamb. Worthy to be praised.
Amen and Amen.
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