The Good Life

"It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love."

John 13:1

You and I have been set up to have an incredibly good life. Did you know that? The thing is, we have to choose it. We can choose to live in a relationship with Jesus Christ and have the "good" life. However, this doesn't mean that we will have a life void of problems or hard times. Our lives will have trouble, will have pain and sorrow, but that relationship with Jesus gives us a hope and a peace that those who don't know him will not experience. Jesus loved you and I so much that He gave Himself for us. He laid down His life so that we would never have to face an eternity without Him. He did it, but you have to choose to accept that and believe it. 

Choose the "good" life, you will NEVER regret it!

My week without sleep

"But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."

2 Cor. 2:9a

This week I went 5 nights without more than a few hours sleep. I don't function well, if at all, without 7-8 hours of sleep at night. I've never been able to, even in my teens and twenties. Yesterday, Mother's Day, was my breaking point. I was so exhausted, so hormonal, so emotionally raw, that I was not a nice person to be around. The tears were near the surface, or streaming down my face, all day long and I was only able to function in a highly reactive state. Small comments or actions pushed me to the edge and my responses were brash and charged with emotion. Yeah, I was a ticking time bomb that should've been in time out. 

Last night, thanks to God's grace and a sleep aid, I was able to sleep more and wake up feeling a bit better. Thinking about it, I was in time out...God's time out. A place where I was empty of myself, my ability to control, think or process. I was finding myself continually turning to Him and begging Him for strength, peace, comfort. However, I'm sure my actions and responses didn't exactly reflect my Savior. 

This is where His awesome grace comes in. He loves me anyway, no matter how much of an emotional and physical wreck I am. And it is by His grace that my family loves me as a zombie too. :)  

I am empty, Lord. I ask you, Father to fill me with Your peace, Your strength, Your love, Your compassion, Your kindness...so that I can overflow onto others. Help me to love You more. Help me to walk out each and every day, no matter how much sleep I've had, in Your grace, continually turning to You. Thank You, Lord God for loving a wretch like me. 

I'm Working on It!

Over the course of the last few weeks I have felt, discovered, been encouraged by some changes happening in my heart and in my life. I am finding that God is drawing me closer, drawing me out and placing me on a path of His choosing, not mine.  I have waited for a long time to be out of the "holding pattern" that I have felt I've been in since last year. I have felt direction-less, frustrated and anxious about how and where to move forward. He is changing that. As I have given up more of myself and my selfish ways, He has gently revealed those parts of me that needed to be cast out, whittled down and thrown away. HE IS SO FAITHFUL! I couldn't have done any of this on my own and as I continue to turn to Him, seek Him and follow His prompting I am finding incredible peace and clarity. WOW! I guess I'm a slow learner...or maybe I wasn't supposed to get it until now? Either way, I'm glad I'm here now and I pray that I will continue, through His strength, to seek Him and His ways. I can't do life without Him. I've tried and it doesn't work. 

Trusting and Tithing

"Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,' says the LORD Almighty, 'and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it."

Malachi 3:10

Today I have been praying over a rather big decision for our family. For the last year we have been living with my parents because of financial hardship. In the last few years we have had unemployment, disability, the loss of our home and the stripping of almost all of our assets. The economy still isn't supporting my husband's line of work in a consistent fashion and we have been struggling to get by, even with a "rent free" roof over our heads. 

Recently, however, work has increased and things are looking up. I want God's guidance and His wisdom to lead us each day, and I know one of the best ways to show my trust is to return to Him what He has given. We haven't been consistent in our tithing over the last few years and I have lost sight of the fact that He will bless us as we give back to Him. 

Lord, I ask that You would help me to see You in all things, especially in the gifts and blessings that you give us. Help me to trust You, to give back to You the "first fruits." Guide our decisions and give us wisdom in the ways that you would want us to go. Thank you, Father, for all that You have done, and are doing, in our lives. 

Amen.

Believe, not Believe In

"We are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved." 

Hebrews 10:39 

I read a devotion this morning that used Hebrews 10:39 to reference a number of situations in which we feel that we lack confidence. I recognize this in myself, as I feel I'm usually not qualified, or am too fearful, or I just lack faith. 

Yes, I know what the Scriptures say, but do I really believe that "All things work together for good for those who love me and are called according to my purpose." or "All things are possible to he who believes."  (Romans 8:28, Mark 9:23)

The question is, do I believe in God or do I believe God? I tend to fall into the first category. I want, and need, to be in the second. 

Help me Father, to believe YOU!

My Refuge

"Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge.  Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge."

Psalm 62:5-8

I trust you, Lord. I lift up my hands and my heart. I give you my hurts, fears, frustrations and concerns. You are my rock and my safe place. I shall rest in You!

In His Time

"He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from the beginning to end."

Ecclesiastes 3:11

I forget that He makes all things beautiful in His time. I forget that good things are worth waiting for. I forget that His timing is perfect. I am so glad that He knows me, and loves me anyway. He has given me this reminder in so many ways. I have His Word, I have His creation, I have His earthly angels to speak this truth to me. No matter what my circumstance, I need to remember that it too will work out, in His time. In His way. In His beauty.