Technical Difficulties

This morning I am having a hard time getting my head and my heart in the same place. I know rationally that no matter where I am or what I'm doing, how I act or feel, God will love me. Has loved me. Why can I not grasp this now? Or, better yet, I can grasp it, but why can't I just apply it? Sit in it? Just be in it? I know its me and not Him. God Himself is my tech support, and I think its time to call Him. :)

Focus on Your Call

"Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. This is my rule in all the churches."

1 Corinthians 7:17

I read this verse and it strikes me that I am responsible to the call that the Lord has put on my

life, the call that He has prepared me for and gifted to me. My call. Not yours. Your call is the same. I am not to judge the call that the Lord has placed on you. How often do we look around at our neighbors, believers or not, and make a judgment? I do it, and this is a great reminder to me to keep my focus on my call. 

Losing "Monica"

"Let love and faithfulness never leave you;

   bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.  Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man.

  Trust in the LORD with all your heart

   and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight."

Proverbs 3:3-6

I am one who likes control. Ok, I might even be a control-freak. If I were a "Friends" character, it would be Monica, even though I believe I'm a Rachel. Yes, I have issues. 

I find that when I can move out of that control mode, I am more at peace and more focused on what really matters. I trip myself up by thinking that I need to have my hands on something or be right there in the decision making process. God doesn't need my help. I need His!! 

For Such a Time as This

"For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"

Esther 4:14

When called to act, I often shy away if I deem the action to difficult. I am one, not proudly mind you, who wants to enjoy the beautiful garden without doing any of the work. I am attempting to change this horrid aspect of myself, and making progress, but I fear its not nearly close enough to completion. I cannot complete this on my own, I know that. I have been equipped, by Him who calls, for whatever task He lays before me, but its still a choice, isn't it? 

I cannot imagine the weight and difficulty of the task set before Esther, and I'm almost positive that I would have said, "Find someone else, I'll take my chances." But that's not having faith, is it? If I believe that He has called me, then I need to also trust that He has equipped me and that He will direct the path, words and actions of all involved. I am not alone, He holds my right hand and has promised to never let me go. I HAVE to choose, stay put and stay stubborn, or step out in faith and accept the call to action. 

Today, I choose to step out.

Oh yeah.... Happy Spring!!

I can't wait!

Opening My Eyes

"I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe."
Ephesians 1:17-19a

I can see. I can look around me and notice the people, the plants, the animals, the life going on around me. I see. But am I really seeing? Am I looking and just merely taking in the images like a camera? I want to see with my heart, to see and love and experience life through the eyes of my Father. He has given me hope. He has called me to a life filled with His love and mercy and grace. I'm not just here, I'm here because He put me here, to know and experience the riches that He gives here on this earth, with a hope of the glorious inheritance that awaits me in Heaven.

Morning Glory

I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge— God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you. Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. 1 Corinthians 1:4-9

I don't know about you, but I oftentimes feel completely unqualified for the tasks set before me. I tend to doubt myself, and I fear that I will fail and look foolish. The apostle Paul's words in these verses resets my thinking. I have been given the gifts, the knowledge and the strength to do whatever I've been called to do. I can no longer use the fear and doubt as an excuse, which in itself is scary enough, because now I have to doit. But even in that, He is faithful! He has made me strong and has promised to walk this out with me. Now, to just take that first step.

Reviving an Old Habit

I was thinking the other night about where I am in my life and where I've been, and why I have let some habits go. Obviously, letting go of "bad" habits is a great thing, but I've let some "good," and essential ones go. After some thinking, praying, thinking and more praying, I feel like I need to resurrect one from the dead. I have decided that I will start up my "Morning Glory" daily devotions/thoughts again. These will keep me in the Word, and in a state of reflection about the Lord's blessings and work in my life. How can I go wrong?