Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Rest in the Midst of Life
I find life can be sapping sometimes. Just the normal everyday run of the mill callings...husband, kids, laundry, grocery shopping, carpooling, cooking, cleaning, ...the list goes on. Then there are other commitments that call and add to the chaos,...work, illnesses, extended family obligations, extra curricular activities, and that list goes on as well. And then there are the holidays with more shopping, more social engagements, and more and more. For two years now I have found my morning commitment to my Lord is critical for recharging my spiritual battery, if you will. Five years later, running has proven to be critical to recharge the emotional battery. What about the physical body? Food and rest. Our society has groomed our generation to always be on the move. I feel guilty for sitting, much less, taking a power nap. Sitting is not productivity. I am list driven.
My devotion this morning reminded me that is ok, to sit and rest.
I Kings 19:4-5
"...he himself...came and sat under a broom tree...he lay and slept..."
Verse seven says that the angel told him to arise and eat for the journey has been too great for him.
Even Elijah who knew no death and was taken up by the Lord needed basic life necessities food and rest. As we do, also.
I'm too tired to trust and too tired to pray,
Said I, as my overtaxed strength gave way.
The one conscious thought that my mind possessed,
Is, oh, could I just drop it all and rest.
Will God forgive me, do you suppose,
If I go right to sleep as a baby goes,
Without questioning if I may,
Without even trying to trust and pray?
Will God forgive you? Think back, dear heart,
When language to you was an unknown art,
Did your mother deny you needed rest,
Or refuse to pillow your head on her breast?
Did she let you want when you could not ask?
Did she give her child an unequal task?
Or did she cradle you in her arms,
And then guard your slumber against alarms?
Oh, how quickly a mother's love can see,
The unconscious yearnings of infancy.
When you've grown too tired to trust and pray,
When overworked nature has quite given way:
Then just drop it all, and give up to rest,
As you used to do on mother's breast,
He knows all about it-the dear Lord knows,
So just go to sleep as a baby goes;
Without even asking if you may,
God knows when His child is too tired to pray.
He judges no solely by uttered prayer,
He knows when the yearnings of love are there.
He knows you do pray, He knows you do trust,
And He knows, too, the limits of poor, weak dust.
Oh, the wonderful sympathy of Christ,
For His chosen ones in that midnight tryst,
When He told them, "Sleep and take your rest,"
While on Him the guilt of the whole world pressed-
You have trusted your life to Him to keep,
Then don't be afraid to go right to sleep.
-----Ella Conrad Cowherd
My devotion this morning reminded me that is ok, to sit and rest.
I Kings 19:4-5
"...he himself...came and sat under a broom tree...he lay and slept..."
Verse seven says that the angel told him to arise and eat for the journey has been too great for him.
Even Elijah who knew no death and was taken up by the Lord needed basic life necessities food and rest. As we do, also.
I'm too tired to trust and too tired to pray,
Said I, as my overtaxed strength gave way.
The one conscious thought that my mind possessed,
Is, oh, could I just drop it all and rest.
Will God forgive me, do you suppose,
If I go right to sleep as a baby goes,
Without questioning if I may,
Without even trying to trust and pray?
Will God forgive you? Think back, dear heart,
When language to you was an unknown art,
Did your mother deny you needed rest,
Or refuse to pillow your head on her breast?
Did she let you want when you could not ask?
Did she give her child an unequal task?
Or did she cradle you in her arms,
And then guard your slumber against alarms?
Oh, how quickly a mother's love can see,
The unconscious yearnings of infancy.
When you've grown too tired to trust and pray,
When overworked nature has quite given way:
Then just drop it all, and give up to rest,
As you used to do on mother's breast,
He knows all about it-the dear Lord knows,
So just go to sleep as a baby goes;
Without even asking if you may,
God knows when His child is too tired to pray.
He judges no solely by uttered prayer,
He knows when the yearnings of love are there.
He knows you do pray, He knows you do trust,
And He knows, too, the limits of poor, weak dust.
Oh, the wonderful sympathy of Christ,
For His chosen ones in that midnight tryst,
When He told them, "Sleep and take your rest,"
While on Him the guilt of the whole world pressed-
You have trusted your life to Him to keep,
Then don't be afraid to go right to sleep.
-----Ella Conrad Cowherd
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
The Rules
This morning proved to be frustrating in more ways that I could really go into detail in fear of losing your attention, as well as mine. In summation, the littlest dog and newest addition to the family decided he couldn't wait for me to get out of the shower to do his business. Frustration number one. Followed by thick soupy fog for complicated weather conditions. Frustration number two. Topped off with distracting conversation with my 5 year old about her dog and our plan of 'attack' to break a poor habit of messing in the house that led to a near wreck in the fog. Frustration number three. Where this brings us is my 7 year old, nearly 8, reaching up from behind my car seat, rubbing my shoulders and says its 'its ok mom, its not your fault'. Unfortunately, I had to correct her and inform her that it was my fault. Driving rules exist for our safety and I failed to heed to one in particular that came close to really frustrating and complicating the morning beyond recognition.
Isn't that the purpose of God's rules and our submission to Him? To protect us and keep us safe from oncoming harm that we can't always see?
Psalm 91:1-16
Isn't that the purpose of God's rules and our submission to Him? To protect us and keep us safe from oncoming harm that we can't always see?
Psalm 91:1-16
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Who Defines Your Worth?
A friend of mine sent this to me this week and summed up some a recent emotional roller coaster ride I took myself on.
Who Defines Your Worth?
Gwen Smith
Today's Truth
Isaiah 43:4a (NIV) "You are precious and honored in my sight..."
Friend to Friend
Last winter, I bought my daughter a really cute jacket at the mall. It's a hoodie that's made of a cuddly fabric with cream, lavender, and mint green horizontal stripes. The jacket zips up in the front and is well crafted, stylish, and simply adorable.
When I bought it, I felt like the price on the tag was a fair one, so I gladly pulled out my wallet and paid the retail amount. I was a kid in a candy store on the way home. I fully anticipated a shriek of happiness from my little bag of beans when I gave it to her. Delightfully, I wasn't disappointed. Kennedy loved her new coat, and I was pleased with my purchase. Happy dances all around - until a week later, when I saw the same jacket in the same store at a greatly reduced price. Are you tensing up with me? Suddenly, I felt schnookered! Ripped off. Taken advantage of. As soon as I saw the red line on the price tag of the unsold coats, everything changed - Kennedy's jacket wasn't worth what I paid for it.
When we speak of the worth of something, we often consider it to be a relative term. One that has shifting factors. For example, last week the cute jacket was thirty-nine dollars, and now it's nineteen ninety-nine. The jacket didn't change, but its perceived worth did.
Now, consider the worth of a woman. Are the factors that determine her value based upon variable, shifting factors or are they based upon fixed factors? Seems to be a silly question, doesn't it? Fixed, of course! But, if the answer is so glaringly obvious, why do we struggle so much as women with feeling worthless? Why do we walk around feeling like that red lined jacket? I think it's because we often allow variable earthly factors to define our worth.
What kind of variable factors?
There are so many reasons why women feel worthless:
* Because they've been abused (raped, molested, physically abused, verbally abused...)
* Because they've been told that they're worthless (by a parent, spouse, sibling, teenage child, or another...)
* Because of choices they've made (divorce, infidelity, abortion, promiscuity, eating disorders, addictions, uncontrolled anger...)
* Because they've been cheated on (infidelity, internet affair, pornography...)
* Because they're co-dependent (conclude their value based upon other people - "If my husband isn't okay, I'm not okay.")
* Because they don't collect a paycheck (stay at home moms that have left the work force, laid off employees, displaced employees, those on disability...)
* Because they've battled an illness (unable to care for family, perform basic home duties, participate in ministry or Bible study like they once did, can't drive, cook...)
Unfortunately, the variable factors that we use to define our worth are endless. Many of us feel worthless. Why? We've felt ignored, invisible, insignificant, useless, undesired, ugly, unloved, or forgotten. We girls are emotional, broken in many ways. Great portions of our identity and of our personal value are wrapped into combustible packages of emotion - how we feel about this or that. The truth is, our worth has nothing to do with our feelings.
Trust me, I'm not going to try to convince you that I know everything there is to know about feeling like a woman of worth. Or about being a woman of worth. I am in the trenches with you. I struggle with normal woman things. I don't live a fancy schmancy, rose-colored wonder-life. I hit the snooze button several times each morning. I pack lunches for my kids. I spend countless hours of my life each year sitting in the car pool line. It's a never-ending struggle for me to keep the laundry done and my kids often have to fish for a matching pair of socks in the clean-clothes basket. My husband is my soul mate, but is far from perfect. For that matter, Brad should win a lifetime achievement award for enduring the drama of me! And my kids bring me both great joy and great frustration on a daily basis.
Is this sounding at all familiar to you?
See - I'm just like you, and I'm walking this faith journey right beside you. In fact, the more I know God, the less inclined I am to pretend to have life or faith figured out. Amen? I'm constantly tempted to define my worth with activities, emotions, and accomplishments. I've come to realize, however, that way of thinking is a spiritual dead end road. Scripture tells us that anything we do in our own strength or of our own goodness is of no value to God. "All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6a, emphasis mine).
What I do know is this: because of Jesus Christ, I'm a woman of highest worth. Not because of anything else. I'm a grace girl. Not perfect by a long stretch. I've been changed by the unconditional love of God and restored to perfect beauty through the shed blood of Jesus. Because of love, we are His daughters, precious in His sight. In light of this, we need to set aside feelings that diminish our value, and embrace our proper identity: Child of the King of Kings.
Hear this, friend: feelings of worthlessness are from Satan himself. It burns me up that the enemy has such a strong grip on God's daughters in this area. We need to associate the word worthless with the word lie. That's exactly what it is, a big, fat lie! I talk to women all the time who bend a knee to negative feelings and live defeated lives because they don't quite know how to overcome their sense of worthlessness. God wants every one of us to experience healing and have an appropriate sense of self-worth.
So let's go back to Kennedy's new coat for just a moment. Imagine walking into God's department store. There on the rack, you spy a coat that is just plain fabulous - I mean stop-you-in-your-tracks fabulous! One-size fits all, the tag reads. Yeah, right, you whisper under your breath. Then you flip over the price tag and it's crazy expensive. Way beyond what you could ever dream of paying. Like, if you added up every dollar that ever passed through your hands - then multiplied that by ten thousand - that kind of expensive. Then imagine the storeowner walking over to you, slipping the coat off the rack and onto your shoulders.
"It's a perfect fit," He smiles.
"Sir," you manage with a whisper, "I could never afford such a coat. This is meant for royalty and I'm, well, just an ordinary girl."
"Oh precious woman, this coat is made especially for you, and the price has already been paid in full."
As the owner straightens the sleeves on your arms and adjusts the collar around your neck, you notice his hands - nail pierced hands. And suddenly you realize that this is the covering you were meant to wear all along.
You see, the Bible tells us that because of what Jesus did on the cross, we can be clothed with the "robe of righteousness." The apostle Paul tells us that when we are reconciled to God, we become His righteousness. "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:21). There's no way we could ever afford or earn such a robe but Jesus gave His life for us - He earned it for us. He paid the price and we receive the gift. Why? Because you're worth it. You are precious and highly valuable in the eyes of the One who sees. And you never, never, never have to worry about being on anyone's bargain rack again.
Let's Pray
Holy Father, I'm humbled at the very thought that I could be viewed as precious in Your eyes. Thank You for taking on my sin so that I could take on your righteousness. Please help me to see myself as You see me. Help me to thrive in Your beauty!
In Jesus' Name,
Amen.
I wish I could reach through my computer screen, grab your hands, and pray with you right now. I don't know what you are going through, but our loving Father is keenly aware of your circumstances, your feelings, and your needs
Who Defines Your Worth?
Gwen Smith
Today's Truth
Isaiah 43:4a (NIV) "You are precious and honored in my sight..."
Friend to Friend
Last winter, I bought my daughter a really cute jacket at the mall. It's a hoodie that's made of a cuddly fabric with cream, lavender, and mint green horizontal stripes. The jacket zips up in the front and is well crafted, stylish, and simply adorable.
When I bought it, I felt like the price on the tag was a fair one, so I gladly pulled out my wallet and paid the retail amount. I was a kid in a candy store on the way home. I fully anticipated a shriek of happiness from my little bag of beans when I gave it to her. Delightfully, I wasn't disappointed. Kennedy loved her new coat, and I was pleased with my purchase. Happy dances all around - until a week later, when I saw the same jacket in the same store at a greatly reduced price. Are you tensing up with me? Suddenly, I felt schnookered! Ripped off. Taken advantage of. As soon as I saw the red line on the price tag of the unsold coats, everything changed - Kennedy's jacket wasn't worth what I paid for it.
When we speak of the worth of something, we often consider it to be a relative term. One that has shifting factors. For example, last week the cute jacket was thirty-nine dollars, and now it's nineteen ninety-nine. The jacket didn't change, but its perceived worth did.
Now, consider the worth of a woman. Are the factors that determine her value based upon variable, shifting factors or are they based upon fixed factors? Seems to be a silly question, doesn't it? Fixed, of course! But, if the answer is so glaringly obvious, why do we struggle so much as women with feeling worthless? Why do we walk around feeling like that red lined jacket? I think it's because we often allow variable earthly factors to define our worth.
What kind of variable factors?
There are so many reasons why women feel worthless:
* Because they've been abused (raped, molested, physically abused, verbally abused...)
* Because they've been told that they're worthless (by a parent, spouse, sibling, teenage child, or another...)
* Because of choices they've made (divorce, infidelity, abortion, promiscuity, eating disorders, addictions, uncontrolled anger...)
* Because they've been cheated on (infidelity, internet affair, pornography...)
* Because they're co-dependent (conclude their value based upon other people - "If my husband isn't okay, I'm not okay.")
* Because they don't collect a paycheck (stay at home moms that have left the work force, laid off employees, displaced employees, those on disability...)
* Because they've battled an illness (unable to care for family, perform basic home duties, participate in ministry or Bible study like they once did, can't drive, cook...)
Unfortunately, the variable factors that we use to define our worth are endless. Many of us feel worthless. Why? We've felt ignored, invisible, insignificant, useless, undesired, ugly, unloved, or forgotten. We girls are emotional, broken in many ways. Great portions of our identity and of our personal value are wrapped into combustible packages of emotion - how we feel about this or that. The truth is, our worth has nothing to do with our feelings.
Trust me, I'm not going to try to convince you that I know everything there is to know about feeling like a woman of worth. Or about being a woman of worth. I am in the trenches with you. I struggle with normal woman things. I don't live a fancy schmancy, rose-colored wonder-life. I hit the snooze button several times each morning. I pack lunches for my kids. I spend countless hours of my life each year sitting in the car pool line. It's a never-ending struggle for me to keep the laundry done and my kids often have to fish for a matching pair of socks in the clean-clothes basket. My husband is my soul mate, but is far from perfect. For that matter, Brad should win a lifetime achievement award for enduring the drama of me! And my kids bring me both great joy and great frustration on a daily basis.
Is this sounding at all familiar to you?
See - I'm just like you, and I'm walking this faith journey right beside you. In fact, the more I know God, the less inclined I am to pretend to have life or faith figured out. Amen? I'm constantly tempted to define my worth with activities, emotions, and accomplishments. I've come to realize, however, that way of thinking is a spiritual dead end road. Scripture tells us that anything we do in our own strength or of our own goodness is of no value to God. "All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6a, emphasis mine).
What I do know is this: because of Jesus Christ, I'm a woman of highest worth. Not because of anything else. I'm a grace girl. Not perfect by a long stretch. I've been changed by the unconditional love of God and restored to perfect beauty through the shed blood of Jesus. Because of love, we are His daughters, precious in His sight. In light of this, we need to set aside feelings that diminish our value, and embrace our proper identity: Child of the King of Kings.
Hear this, friend: feelings of worthlessness are from Satan himself. It burns me up that the enemy has such a strong grip on God's daughters in this area. We need to associate the word worthless with the word lie. That's exactly what it is, a big, fat lie! I talk to women all the time who bend a knee to negative feelings and live defeated lives because they don't quite know how to overcome their sense of worthlessness. God wants every one of us to experience healing and have an appropriate sense of self-worth.
So let's go back to Kennedy's new coat for just a moment. Imagine walking into God's department store. There on the rack, you spy a coat that is just plain fabulous - I mean stop-you-in-your-tracks fabulous! One-size fits all, the tag reads. Yeah, right, you whisper under your breath. Then you flip over the price tag and it's crazy expensive. Way beyond what you could ever dream of paying. Like, if you added up every dollar that ever passed through your hands - then multiplied that by ten thousand - that kind of expensive. Then imagine the storeowner walking over to you, slipping the coat off the rack and onto your shoulders.
"It's a perfect fit," He smiles.
"Sir," you manage with a whisper, "I could never afford such a coat. This is meant for royalty and I'm, well, just an ordinary girl."
"Oh precious woman, this coat is made especially for you, and the price has already been paid in full."
As the owner straightens the sleeves on your arms and adjusts the collar around your neck, you notice his hands - nail pierced hands. And suddenly you realize that this is the covering you were meant to wear all along.
You see, the Bible tells us that because of what Jesus did on the cross, we can be clothed with the "robe of righteousness." The apostle Paul tells us that when we are reconciled to God, we become His righteousness. "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:21). There's no way we could ever afford or earn such a robe but Jesus gave His life for us - He earned it for us. He paid the price and we receive the gift. Why? Because you're worth it. You are precious and highly valuable in the eyes of the One who sees. And you never, never, never have to worry about being on anyone's bargain rack again.
Let's Pray
Holy Father, I'm humbled at the very thought that I could be viewed as precious in Your eyes. Thank You for taking on my sin so that I could take on your righteousness. Please help me to see myself as You see me. Help me to thrive in Your beauty!
In Jesus' Name,
Amen.
I wish I could reach through my computer screen, grab your hands, and pray with you right now. I don't know what you are going through, but our loving Father is keenly aware of your circumstances, your feelings, and your needs
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Hold My Heart
As a christian and an active participant in building His kingdom, I find myself surrounded by heartache and pain. I love music. It ministers to my heart, to my soul and to my spirit. Tenth Avenue North's Hold My Heart speaks to me for my friends that feel they are in a hopeless situation and the fact that I feel so helpless in not being able to help them. May the maker of heaven and earth reach down and hold your heart. May you experience His presence in a profound and unforgettable way. May your spirits sore to new heights with unexplainable reason. I love you friends.
Tenth Avenue North - Hold My Heart
From the album Over And Underneath
How long must I pray
Must I pray to You?
How long must I wait
Must I wait for You?
How long till I see Your face
See You shining through I'm on my knees
Begging You to notice me
I'm on my knees Father, will you turn to me
One tear in the driving rain
One voice in a sea of pain
Could the maker of the stars
Hear the sound of my breaking heart
One life, that's all I am
Right now I can barely stand If
You're everything You say You are
Would You come close and hold my heart
I've been so afraid, afraid to close my eyes
So much can slip away before I say goodbye
But if there's no other way I'm done asking why
I'm on my knees Begging You to turn to me
I'm on my knees Father, will you run to me
So many questions without answers
Your promises remain I can't see but I'll take my chances to hear You call my name
To hear You call my name
Lyrics may not be reproduced without permission from the publisher.
Tenth Avenue North - Hold My Heart
From the album Over And Underneath
How long must I pray
Must I pray to You?
How long must I wait
Must I wait for You?
How long till I see Your face
See You shining through I'm on my knees
Begging You to notice me
I'm on my knees Father, will you turn to me
One tear in the driving rain
One voice in a sea of pain
Could the maker of the stars
Hear the sound of my breaking heart
One life, that's all I am
Right now I can barely stand If
You're everything You say You are
Would You come close and hold my heart
I've been so afraid, afraid to close my eyes
So much can slip away before I say goodbye
But if there's no other way I'm done asking why
I'm on my knees Begging You to turn to me
I'm on my knees Father, will you run to me
So many questions without answers
Your promises remain I can't see but I'll take my chances to hear You call my name
To hear You call my name
Lyrics may not be reproduced without permission from the publisher.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Spirit versus Flesh
The weekend brought about some thoughts that I am not so proud of. In fact, ashamed more like it. Then Monday rolled around and my tongue was not guarded, probably because my heart was not well guarded for what I had let run amok in my head. Fortunately, my God's 'anger' is but for a moment and His favor is for life. This was my devotion after my quiet time this morning. The Battles Within. God's timing is perfect. I am imperfect. Thank you Lord, for never forsaking me even when my flesh dominants my spirit.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Community and Accountability
Just a quick reminder that voting is not only a civic duty but a spiritual obligation.
Today I would like to share the devotion from Proverbs Ministries. My running buddies and I were just discussing last night during our run accountability to be in the word frequently, ultimately daily. I find it exhilarating when God encourages us through His own word.
Today I would like to share the devotion from Proverbs Ministries. My running buddies and I were just discussing last night during our run accountability to be in the word frequently, ultimately daily. I find it exhilarating when God encourages us through His own word.
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