Monday Musings - Hidden Treasure

My Bible reading plan has me walking straight through the Old Testament right now - mixed in with some New Testament readings and some Psalms.  I love the Old Testament, but reading Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy all in a row can be pretty challenging.  I think the Lord is having some fun with me by pointing out all the hidden treasures in these passages.  Here is a treasure I came across this week:

You shall follow the Lord your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him.  Deuteronomy 13:4

The Message puts it this way:
You are to follow only God, your God, hold him in deep reverence, keep his commandments, listen obediently to what he says, serve him—hold on to him for dear life! 

I think that if someone wrote us a prescription for life - this would be it.

FOLLOW * FEAR * OBEY * LISTEN * SERVE * CLING

Sounds simple enough - right?  What a treasure tucked away in Deuteronomy.  The essence of what it means to follow the Lord is right here.

Follow:  I want to follow Him with an attitude of humility and with the courage to take that next step.  It is so easy to find yourself following after something else.  I want to stay focused on following Him alone knowing that everything He has for me is on that path.

Fear:  I want to only fear Him with an attitude of reverence.  All the other things that I fear are just traps that keep me from only fearing the One who deserves my awe and reverence.  What if fear was only displayed in my life in this manner?  Wow - that would be so freeing.

Obey:  Ugghhh  What a challenge!  How I wish I would respond in obedience every single time.  Obedience to the Lord is always associated with blessing in my life.  Obeying His commandments brings JOY and PEACE.  An obedient life is a blessed life.  That tension and sorrow associated with sin and its consequences is gone and a life lived walking close to the Lord replaces it.  I want to choose this over and over again each day.

Listen:  Most of us are better talkers than we are listeners.  I want to learn more every day about listening to the Lord.  He is constantly whispering in my ear (and occasionally shouting) through the Spirit to guide me throughout the day.  When I am listening and then responding to His instructions -- those are the most amazing times of my life.  Never a dull moment when I listen to the Lord and respond in obedience (there's the O word again!)

Serve:  True joy is found in service to others.  Don't you just get sick of thinking about yourself?  I know I do.  To shift my focus on to others and their needs is such a JOY.  There is such a sweetness in serving the Lord and seeing others loved on by Him through my hands and feet.  In the book of James, he asks the question - What good is our faith without works?  I have to say, not much good.  Our faith must be exhibited by serving others or it can not have effect.

Cling:  This is probably my favorite instruction.  CLING  If I do this one thing, the others will more likely fall into place.  Above all, I must cling to the Lord every single day, in every single circumstance, in every decision, in every interaction and everything else that comes along.  I want to be stuck to Him like glue.  I want His righteousness to cover me so thoroughly that it is the Christ in me that is seen.

FOLLOW * FEAR * OBEY * LISTEN * SERVE * CLING

If someone gave you a prescription that would save your life, 

would you take it?  

Well, here it is . . .

Unlimited refills

Spirit empowered

Guaranteed results

Hidden treasure, indeed.

Thankful Thursday - Praybook

Last June, through a friend (thank you, Leigh Ann) I came across an app connected to facebook called Praybook.  It is such an awesome tool for ministering to others.  I absolutely love it and wanted to share a bit about it with you.

If you go to praybook.com, you can sign in with your facebook login or with your email address.  It connects with your facebook friends and then you choose how many people you want to pray for each day.  As I go out to that site daily, my facebook friends names come up.  Initially, I chose to have 7 names come up each day because I wanted to get through all of my friends rather quickly that first go round.  It was challenging, but it was FUN.  After I went through all of the names that first time, I changed it to bring up two names a day.  As I pray for each friend, I have the opportunity to send them a message that appears in their message inbox on facebook. 

Can God really use a facebook app?  Well, yes He can.  God can use the internet any old way He wants to.  I know that He is in this, because over and over again, I hear back from someone that the prayer I prayed for them was exactly what they needed that day.  God has used it to encourage so many and to reconnect me in a more significant way with some of my friends.  I have learned of needs and hurts that I would not have known about otherwise.

It is an amazing privilege to intercede for others.  I'm telling you, no one yet has written me back to say, "Please don't pray for me."  That includes friends that do not know the Lord.  In fact, some of them have been very touched that I took the time to pray for them.  It is a small effort on my part that the Lord can use in a big way.  I don't hear back from everyone, but that is not the point, anyway.  My part is just to be obedient in praying for others and the rest is up to the Lord.

It also gets my mind in a good place - focused on what others need and how the mighty power of the Lord can move in their lives.  I am amazed over and over again at how this blesses me in the process and I have to say, it is just fun. What a profound privilege we have to lift up the names of those that we love to the Father.

I want to encourage you to check it out.
praybook.com 

I am thankful that someone thought of this (no doubt, Holy Spirit inspired) and that we have the opportunity to utilize this technology for some major good. 


Have fun starting a prayer adventure!

 

Monday Musings - My All

One of the things I love about scripture is that it is always fresh because life is always changing.  The Lord can use the same verse to teach me different things at different times.

"And you shall love your God with all your heart, 

and with all your soul, and with all your mind 

and with all your strength."

Mark 12:30

Heart * Soul * Mind * Strength

Such a familiar passage and some of the first instructional words from God Himself.  It's loaded and it's challenging, but it is certainly what I want to be doing.

Heart:

God must be my first love.  My heart must completely belong to Him above all else.  In that, He has the opportunity to truly shape me.  Out of that I am freed up to generously love others because it is an overflow of His love - not something I am trying to stir up in my own heart.  There is a needy, love-starved world out there.  Only God Himself can meet those needs and He chooses to use us as His big arms and love notes to those around us.

Soul:

I believe that my soul is the very essence of who I am.  It is my soul that the Lord saves and my soul that lives on for eternity.  The fact that the Lord has redeemed my soul impacts everything else in my life.  Everything springs from this knowledge - this grace - this mercy.  My soul belongs to my Savior.  

Mind:

Perhaps the most difficult of all of these.  I think that keeping my thoughts where I want them to be is the most difficult challenge.  Oh, that crazy, wandering mind - too quick to criticize or make snap judgments.  I want to feed my mind with the things that honor God - His Word, good teaching and good conversation.  With all that is out there, this can be difficult.  I have to be intentional about it or it won't happen.  Loving God with all your mind is a tall order.  You have to WANT it.

Strength:

God deserves the best I can give.  My best efforts and my best energy should be available for His purposes.  There is an "all in" idea here - that every ounce of me is directed toward my God.  I don't want to leave this earth with even one ounce of strength that could have been used by Him.  Even in my weakness - He is strong.

When you look at this verse, it is essentially saying that ALL of me belongs to the Lord.  To live for Him requires loving Him with everything that I've got and then some.  When I give Him full access, He can do anything.  He is not limited by my limitations.  In fact, those very limitations make me more useful to Him.  

He shines where I do not.  

He is strong where I am weak.  

He loves when I struggle to love.

His thoughts are higher than mine 

when I need a reboot.

His redemption saves my soul.

What does loving the Lord with all your heart, 

soul, mind and strength mean to you?  

I'd love to hear about it . . .

 

 

Thankful Thursday - Face to Face

There is nothing like seeing someone face to face.  Phones, emails and text messages can only take you so far!  I haven't seen my daughters in 2 months and I can tell you that as much as I love talking to them on the phone, emailing, facebooking and text messaging -- I can not wait to see them face to face.


1st Corinthians 13:12 -13 says:


For now we see in a mirror dimly but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.  But faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.


This verse has always jumped out at me.  Maybe it is because I have been around antique mirrors most of my life.  My Mom has always collected antiques and both of my grandparents has those old silver mirrors where the silver wore off and the mirror looked more mottled than like shiny glass.  When you looked in them, your image was distorted a bit.  You could see it - but it wasn't clear.  


Sometimes it is frustrating to see things like I'm looking in one of those old mirrors.  My images of who I am and of who Jesus is are not as clear as I would like them to be.  I want to know Him fully -  to understand His plan for me and yet it can be a struggle.


But here is the hope - even now, I am fully known, the good and the bad, and in that, I am fully loved by Jesus.  One day, I will see Him FACE TO FACE.   I will know Him as fully as He knows me. 

That makes my heart sing. 

That brings me great peace.  

That fills me with JOY.

So today, I am thankful for this promise.  I am thankful for what I am able to see now through God's Word and the indwelling of the Spirit and I am thankful in advance for that day when I will know Him as I am fully known.

Monday Musings - Celebrating Others Gifts

I love how God will surprise you with something when you least expect it.  Let's be honest - when  you are reading through the Bible and you land in Numbers, it can be rough. After all, you have just read Leviticus.  But, God says that all of His Word is valuable, so you push through.  Then . . . you come across hidden gems that teach you so much.  So here is one of those gems.


Moses said to him, "Are you jealous for my sake?  Would that all the Lord's people were prophets, that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them."  Number 11:29


What??? What is so awesome about that?  Well, here is the background on this event.  Earlier in this chapter, the Spirit of the Lord had come upon the 70 elders of the Israelites and they had prophesied.  This gift of the Spirit was for a specific purpose and for that specific moment.  However, on 2 of the men, Eldad and Medad (looking for a baby name?), the Spirit remained and they were prophesying in the camp.  Someone came running to Moses to "tattle" on them.  Joshua immediately gets defensive of and apparently for Moses.  After all, Moses had been the only one to exhibit this kind of gift.  I think that Joshua's motive was to honor Moses and keep him in this unique place of high esteem.  He saw the gifting of Eldad and Medad as a threat to his mentor.


I LOVE Moses' response.  "Are you jealous for my sake?" We all do this.  We get jealous for someone else and it generally is NOT helpful.  We are particularly vulnerable when it comes to spouses and children.  Do we want our children to win the contest or receive the honor that another child received?  Do we think our spouse deserved the promotion more than another?

Moses could have said to Joshua, "Yes!  By all means - restrain those guys.  I'm the only one that gets to exercise the gift of prophesy - I'm God's man."  But, instead he says, " Would that all the Lord's people were prophets, that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them."  

So counter-cultural.  When it comes to giftings of all kinds, it is easy to be jealous of another or threatened by another.  Our own insecurities rear their ugly heads and we don't want to be outdone or shown up in any way.  Maybe we just want to have the gift that someone else has -- we are sure we could do it better.

I want to respond like Moses.  I want to rejoice that the Lord has gifted all His people. I want to embrace the way the body of Christ works and be thrilled that He has equipped many to serve.   

This is not a contest - this is a collaboration.  

There is more than enough ministry out there for everyone.  Let's cheer on our co-laborers and rest in the Lord's value of each one of us, His calling on each life and His wisdom in placing each one of us exactly where we need to be.  

Let's be about raising up followers of Jesus, 

not followers of self.  

Let's point each one toward the Lord Jesus.  It is critical that jealousy, competitiveness and criticism stay out of the body.  They can literally kill the ministries of the church.

What if we chose to champion one anothers gifitngs? 

What if we pray diligently for others 

with our same gifting?

What if we chose to learn from and in turn 

mentor others with our same gifting?

What if jealousy gave way to encouragement?

What if competition gave way to collaboration?

What if insecurity gave way to true belief 

in our value to the Father?

Wow . . . What if?

"Every good thing and every perfect gift comes from above, coming down from the Father of Lights, in whom there is no variation or shifting shadow."  James 1:17

Rest assured, God knows what He is doing.  He gifts every believer.  Seek to know what He has given you and use it for the common good of the body.  You will find more joy and fulfillment than you can imagine.

Thankful Thursday - The Hughes Family

Well - it has happened again.

  

One of my neighbors moved this week.  

It is so hard to see people go - especially these neighbors that I love so dearly.  I met Ryan and Michelle a year ago November at a party I had trying to meet my neighbors. They were the only people who came from their building and I am so glad that they came.  I loved them immediately and from then on, we had dinners together and got to know one another better and better.  In February of 2011, Michelle gave birth to Hannah.  Now I love Ryan and Michelle, but I am hopelessly in love with Hannah.  I got to be her first baby sitter and be there for all her significant steps this first year.  She started standing up and taking a few steps before they left this week.  

Ryan, Michelle and Hannah

Daddy and Hannah

Sweet Hannah

I always say that when it is hard to say goodbye - you know you have been loved and loved someone well.  When you choose to invest in people, it hurts when you are separated, but isn't that what makes life rich?  


I wish I could be close to Hannah as she grows up but I will always cherish this time I got to see her grow into such a beautiful toddler.  Michelle and Ryan will forever have an imprint on my heart.  We became family and therefore, we will always be family.   

I am very hard to get rid of

So, on this thankful Thursday, I am grateful for:


*having Ryan and Michelle as my neighbors
*their willingness to let me be a part of Hannah's life
*lots of great conversations and laughter
*the privilege of investing in the lives of others
*My Heavenly Father - who is the giver of all good and perfect gifts

 

Hug a neighbor today :-)

Monday Musings - Waiting

Waiting is so hard.  I have never heard anyone say, "I just love having to wait and wait and wait . . . "  Yet, it is a concept that the Lord gives us over and over again in His Word.   If you do a word search on the phrase "wait on the Lord" - there are 861 verses where it appears.  Whoa - apparently, this is important.

Let's face it - we don't like waiting in line, waiting on the phone, waiting at a restaurant, waiting on an internet search, waiting at the doctor's office, waiting at the airport and waiting on someone to come home!  In Psalm 25:1-5, it says:


To You, O LORD, I lift up my soul.  
O my God, in You I trust,
Do not let me be ashamed;
Do not let my enemies exult over me.
Indeed, none of those who wait for You will be ashamed;
Those who deal treacherously without cause will be ashamed.
Make me know Your ways, O LORD;
Teach me Your paths.
Lead me in Your truth and teach me,
For You are the God of my salvation;
For You I wait all the day. 

Waiting has always been hard and God's children have always been asked to do it.  We see long periods of waiting all throughout Scripture.  Waiting may be even harder in this instantaneous culture we live in.  We are used to obtaining information in seconds and food almost that fast!  Perhaps the art of waiting on the Lord has been somewhat lost in the busyness of our lives.  When I was reading this Psalm - these things stood out to me.

*Waiting involves TRUST -- We are not just waiting on anyone - we are waiting on God, Himself.  He is trustworthy.  He is never late.  He is faithful.  He cares.

*Waiting will not bring us shame.  Don't we spend a good deal of time worrying about what is to come?  When will this happen?  Why isn't is happening faster?  Perhaps the Lord is protecting us.  Perhaps there is crucial timing at stake here.  He will not put us to shame.

*Waiting is active.  I am to "know" God's ways. This involves studying His Word, spending time talking to Him and spending a lot of time listening.  He says that He will teach me and that He will lead me.  Often, these times of waiting are some of the richest in terms of learning and growing in the Lord.

*Waiting can take a while!  I know that seems a little redundant - but the Psalm says, "For you I will wait all day."  I don't really think this means a simple 24 hours.  I think the idea here is that no matter how long it takes, I will wait.  God is not restricted by the clock or by the calendar.  I need to let those restrictions go as well.

How often have you gotten yourself 

in trouble by waiting?

If you are like me, not very often.  I am more likely to get myself in a mess by being impulsive.  I have acted too fast, spoken too quickly and made important decisions in haste.  Learning the discipline of waiting is HUGE.  It is key to maturity in Christ and is indicative of our trust in Him.  

What are you anxious about?

Are you waiting on the Lord and the wait seems too long?

Are you feeling anxious in your waiting?

You are among good company.  This would be an excellent time to read over Psalm 25 and take a deep breath.  Remind yourself of God's faithfulness in the past and that His timing is always perfect.  Our vision is so restrictive and our knowledge so narrow.  He sees it all - He knows it all - He cares more than we can imagine.

Lord, grace us with the ability to wait on You 

and please grow us up in the process.