Month: September 2017

I don’t often do this but recently I made a weighty decision about something of personal significance in my life and suddenly, approximately three weeks later, I began to question that decision. At first subtle, nagging thoughts would creep into my daily activity. Within about two days, I was in full throttle concern I had made the wrong decision.

My thoughts ignited into a flaming frenzy! I could not quit thinking about my poor decision-making skills. My mind was playing the Olympic championship for the gold medal of second guessing this seemingly catastrophic and irreversible decision. Exhaustion!

The questions.  Oh, the questions!  “Was this the right thing to do?” “Did you truly understand God’s direction to go for it?” “ Did you ensure this was the best decision in pursuit of your ultimate goal in this area?”

Then came the accusations, “This was not the right thing to do.”  “God did not okay this for your life.” “You have far too many obligations to care for to pursue such a thing.” “Sure, you know how do this but what a ninny you are for thinking you have time. Look at your calendar.”

All this followed by more accusatory questioning. “Who do you think you are to pursue this?” “Why do you think this is good for you right now?” “You do have too many other things you should be taking care of.” “Besides all that, you’re not good enough … “ “You’re not smart enough…” “You’re not ready …” “You’re not this…” “You’re not that … “  “You’re not …”

I wanted to scream at my thoughts, “STOP IT!”

Such confusion! I had to seek the Lord to end this struggle.

My normal routine is to get up around 5:15 a.m. and pray. About 7:00 a.m. my husband and I have coffee, devotion and prayer together. That next morning I outdid my norm and got up and 4:45 a.m. I HAD to get the answer!

I went to my place of prayer. There, my old strategically placed prayer chair awaited my arrival.  Kneeling with a heavy, grieving heart, worship rolled out celebrating the essence of God, aware of my own unworthiness–if not for the blood of Jesus–to empty myself before Him. Praise poured as I celebrated His promise of our confidence He is listening and will answer when we seek His will. I implored Him to help me know His will in this situation, to understand what I needed to do. My cries emerged from the depths of my being to Him a few days in a row. Yet, the second guessing continued.

Our God is NOT the author of confusion but of peace (1 Cor 14:33 NASB) and God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power, love, and sound judgment. (2 Tim 1:7 HCSB) I was trusting Him for the answer to rid myself of this confusion.

After prayer on the third day, Mike and I had our routine time of devotion and prayer. Then, Mike left for the day to work on a consulting job. I took the opportunity of quietness to search the Word.

My regular Bible reading had taken me to a particular study and this day I did not believe that was where I was to focus my energy.  Instead, I felt compelled to read from the Psalms. (In full transparency, I had the same thought the day before, got sidetracked by another issue and did not have the opportunity to go back and add the Psalms to my reading.) Today was different. I HAD to do it!

With pen in hand, I opened my Bible. I did not have a particular direction of which Psalm to read, so I thought, I will start with Psalm 1 and proceed from that point. On the page, I had a couple things marked from previous studies and chose to ignore them so the words would be fresh, and began reading. Verse three seemingly lifted off the page and said, “…which yields its fruit in its season…” There, next to that line I had marked and noted my confirmation regarding this decision only one month, almost to the day, prior.

There it was! GOD REMEMBERED and reminded me HE had already told me what the decision was to be! The voice of question was the accusing enemy attempting to instill defeat into my soul. But GOD …

GOD said “NO, Leah, you are NOT defeated! You, Leah, have VICTORY in ME!”

WINS-DAY is a BIG win for me this week because I got to begin and end today KNOWING GOD’s peace!

Let GOD show YOU where HE is giving YOU VICTORY!

 

 

 

 

Saturday.  If you have a Monday through Friday 8:00 to 5:00 type job, today is probably your day off of the regularly scheduled program.

Saturdays and Sundays, oh how we LOVE our days off work!

Obviously, many of us have varying schedules.  So, whatever days of the week your days-off-work happen, it is a great time to take time.  What do I mean?

Reflect.

Our days off work offer the time where our minds can reflect on the happenings of the previous week.  We can assess where we are on our goals for the month and for the year.  Are we moving toward our ultimate goals?  Where are we in regard to goals for our marriage, our families, other relationships, our work, and our spirit?  Take an allotted time to think on this.  Don’t overthink it.  Just reflect, because you have to allow yourself time to…

Recharge.

You and I NEED TIME to ENJOY!  Remember the adage, “All work and no play makes for a dull boy.”?  It is TRUE!  We all need time to relax and play and enjoy the PRESENT.  Sometimes we are physically in a place but our minds are not present because we have not recharged.

LET GO of things and issues that keep you from being present in the present.

The following statement’s analogy of our lives in comparison to what happens every autumn paints a beautiful landscape of releasing things that bind us to the wrong things.

The trees are about to show us how lovely it is to let things go.

When we hold on to thoughts and behavioral patterns that prevent us from moving forward or living in the now, we pay for it, as well as the people around us.  We miss out on them and they miss out on us.  So wherever you are, be present in body and mind.

Recharging goes beyond pleasure-seeking leisure time.  Recharging spiritually is VITAL to SURVIVAL!

Our belief system drives our world view.  As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, our world view is driven by living according to God’s plan given to us through His Word.

Recharging spiritually means we regularly seek the Lord’s presence individually.  We find a place of solitude, quiet our minds, focus, wait, and listen for the Lord.  The apostle James teaches us that when we draw near to God, He draws near to us. (James 4:8)  The other piece of recharging spiritually is to place ourselves, on a regular basis, with a group of likeminded people.

Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.  Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.  And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. (Hebrews 10:23-25 NLT)  

Worshiping together in a corporate setting energizes us because we are able to encourage each other in our walk, uplift one another in our struggles, and celebrate each others’ victories!

Resolve. 

After we have taken the time to reflect and recharge, we are ready to be more resolute about moving forward.  We know where we are and we know where we want to go, so Monday morning, let’s get going.

Reflect. Recharge. Resolve.

What are YOU ENVISIONING for YOUR LIFE?  This weekend? Next week? This month? The remainder of the year?

SEEK the LORD!  DREAM BIG!  PURSUE IT!

VISION.

GOALS.

ACTION.

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Autumn!  Oh, how I LOVE this time of year!  The memories that flood and overwhelm my mind on this first day of fall!

I absolutely loved school the entirety of my growing up years and on this first day of autumn, I reminisce on how much I enjoyed the beginning of classes, gathering with friends, comparing class schedules, the anticipation of football games, and cruising the main drag.

Autumn brings thoughts of hot coffee and cool mornings, lawns mown less often, budding of brightly colored chrysanthemums, and the smoky smell of fire pits and fireplaces.  The sky appears cleaner and a more brilliant hue.  The air is crisp and clear.  Tree leaves of many varieties take on the most amazing colors in shades of golds, reds, purples, and browns.  The breeze captures them off the branches and they lilt and swirl like a ballerina, dancing to the ground from their heights.

Oh how I LOVE autumn!

This morning, this first day of my favorite season, my thoughts are centered on how extremely blessed my life is.  All is certainly not perfect in my world.  In fact, the reality is we have been experiencing an extended season of unrest and difficulty in our little piece of the world.  I have said good-bye to precious ones whom I loved so dearly in this life who now reside in eternity with the Lord.  I have treasured loved ones dealing with horrendous physical ailments.  A cherished friend moved many miles away from me this year.  I long to visit with dear ones I do not get to see often enough.  Yet, because I am in the abundant grace of God, He empowers me to live for Him, to follow Him, even in the midst of the most difficult of  trials and imperfections of this life.

God keeps me in His hand and watches over my life.  He shelters me in the shadow of His wings.  Why?  Because I choose to dwell in His secret place.

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of The Almighty.  And I will say of the Lord, “He is my Refuge and my Fortress, My God, in Him I will trust.  (Psalm 91:1-2)

To dwell is to live, abide, reside.  When we choose to place ourselves in the care of The Almighty, we have nothing to fear. He is our Refuge.  He is our Fortress, our Barrier when life seems to overwhelm us.  We abide under His wings.  We reside in His nest.  We live in His shelter.

Zephaniah tells us God is mighty to save! He exalts over me with joy! He renews me in His love! He rejoices over me with singing! (Zeph 3:17)

No matter the season of my life, who or what can be more worthy of my thoughts, my time, and my affection?

I choose to worship Almighty God because He is that, ALMIGHTY.  He is everything wrapped into His own statement of Himself being, “I AM!”

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Each morning on the back patio, sipping from steaming cups, my husband, Mike, and I watch the sun emerge over the eastern horizon, lighting the day as its golden glow rises above the rooftops.

One recent morning, along with the beauty of the sunrise, thoughts of failures began to emerge in my mind.  Failures I had already left in the Lord’s hands.  Failures the enemy was trying to use to bury my mind and heart into a pit of condemnation.  Why oh why is it so easy to allow things listed on our calendars and schedules, things we must accomplish, to get in the way of people?  Particularly, how do we do this to the people closest to us, those we love and care for most dearly?  How can I allow my work to postpone a sweet, simple conversation with my precious love of thirty-five plus years?  I only needed to write one more paragraph the other day. Minutes I will never recover … UGH!

Emerge.  To come forth.  Emerge is a directional word.  The imagery in my mind is of something moving upward or forward–much like the floatation of negative condemning thoughts opposing the joyful beauty of illuminating sunrise. Still, …

… the emerging sunshine of dawn erupting through night’s darkness SCREAMS, “THERE IS HOPE!”

On my rock patio, I have a hibiscus and every morning I take note of the many buds readying to emerge into gorgeous shades of peachy pink and yellow flowers in full bloom.

Just as a flower morphs from bud to full bloom or a caterpillar wrapped in its cocoon breaks through and emerges a glorious butterfly, emerging prescribes transformation.

 

With a flower or a caterpillar, transformation is a natural and innate progression in the growth of that particular life process.  With people, transformation is a choice.

Emerging is the picture of promise.  It speaks to stepping up, taking one’s place, and moving toward one’s intended destiny.

Our destiny is in front of us.  To reach it, we must choose to move toward it.

When we seek to change from our current status to the status we desire, it requires us to do things differently.  We shape our skills, develop our talents, and seek ways to grow in grace and kindness so we may take others with us on our journey.  Transforming describes that process of moving from where we are to where we are going.

Thankfully, when we suffer from condemning thoughts as I did that morning, or thoughts of any kind that do not bring honor to God, we need only to capture them, ask our loving, merciful, gracious Lord, Jesus Christ, to change them to thoughts bringing glory and honor to Him, and He will do it, instantly! (2 Cor 10:5)

Transformation begins with our minds.  We must think differently in order to act differently and emerge differently.

When our thoughts are transformed, as Paul taught the Romans and those at Philippi (Rom 12:1-2; Phil 4:8), we will emerge with a renewed mind, causing us to take new action, leading us toward our God-ordained destiny.

Paul also taught the people of Corinth, “And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”  (2 Corinthians 3:18)  

This fills us with the hopeful reality we do not have to remain where we are!  We can be different.  We can grow into the person and place we desire to be.

I dearly enjoy studying and learning and my closest friends have rightly assessed, I  have a thirst for knowledge and growth.

This rapacious yen for enlightenment is not for the express purpose of gathering intelligence.  No, there is a greater purpose for my seeking beyond simply attaining knowledge.

Visualize pure, fresh, clear water flowing down a mountainside into a pool.  Hear the gurgling as it splashes over the rocks making its descent from the top.  This brisk flow plunges into the basin at full speed.  Yet, this estuary falls into a reservoir with no outlet.  It is trapped.  It ripples a bit after impact only to be pushed to the other side, then stops.

The lack of movement creates a different environment.  Over a period of time, the water becomes stagnate.  Harmful bacteria and other troublesome organisms grow, transforming what was once crystalline into a murky bog.

Our lives are much the same.

When we grow into a place and get comfortable, we can become complacent and choose to stop.  Stop growing.  Stop learning.  Stop stretching ourselves.  Stop moving forward.

Trapped.

Like sweet water becoming bitter, we are trapped in the mire of stagnation.

Stagnate. STAGnate. StagNATE. STAGNATE.  The word even sounds distasteful.

We are fresh and clear upon arrival but ceasing to learn, grow, and stretch our skills, flow of creativity stops.  Bogged down in the mud of complacency.  Undesirable things sprout.  Unsavory attitudes begin to taint our words and blemish our character with apathy, bitterness and negativity.  Frustration arises and takes aim at those who are flourishing  and overshadowing those who are stagnating.

No stretching means no movement.  Stagnation is the result.  Allowing ourselves to pool and simply hold on to what we already have and choose not to move forward, we withhold from and negatively effect those whom we might otherwise positively influence.  May we never become stagnate!

The apostle Peter compared our desire for growth to babies who crave milk (1 Peter 2:1-2).  We should crave to grow.  As we grow, we consume the meat of the Word so our walk with the Lord will flourish (1 Corinthians 3:2; Hebrews 5:12).  The same applies to growing in every aspect of life.  We envision our desire and take in the heartier nutrients of learning new things, honing our skills, enhancing our abilities.  With this we build strength to tackle tasks and pursue our dreams.

My desire is to grow from where I am today into someone better tomorrow.

We can all seek to know and grow.

Knowing more, we can apply more, to effectively influence the world around us.

Stretching ourselves, we choose to move forward, increase our own value and enable ourselves to add value to others.

Every day is an opportunity for us to Wake Up, Stretch Out, Move Forward, and Flow in Creativity!

CONNECT.

DREAM.

GROW.

FLOW.

MAKE SOMETHING HAPPEN!

–Leah