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Yearly Archives: 2014
Rejoice
God is a faithful God. He never fails to keep His word. So why do we doubt?
Fear? Frustration in how long it’s taking? We’re tired? Impatience? Listening to other people instead of God?
How about trying something new? Rejoicing in the promise before it comes to pass! When you feel tired, afraid, or frustrated, just thank Him for His faithfulness and have a lil dance party with Him. Focus on the goodness of God. Focus on how much He loves you.
“Be glad, Zion mountain; Dance Judah’s daughters! He does what He says He’d do!” Psalm 48:11 MSG
Rejoice even before the promise manifests! If God said it–then it’s already done! Rejoice in His faithfulness!
Gift of Peace
“My peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 14:27 NKJV
Jesus’s peace does not mean having zero issues! His peace is a trust that allows you to rest, knowing God is for you even when there are issues. This peace is a gift. Like all other gifts, it only needs to be received and used.
Peace is a gift. Trust is a choice.
Like Pigs in the Mud
“Beloved, if our heart does nor condemn us we have confidence toward God.” I John 3:21 NKJV
God loves me, this I know. We say it & sing about it. But we don’t always believe it & can’t always receive it. Why? Our own heart tells us we’re unworthy. We hide out like a hermit & beat ourselves up. We wallow around in guilt and shame like pigs in the mud. We dislike ourselves immensely. We indulge in self-destructive behaviors.
That’s the opposite of what God desires! God wants us to come to Him freely & boldly without reservation or doubt. To be confident in the fact that we cannot be separated from His love.
So stop dwelling on your mistakes and behavior, whether they happened 5 minutes ago or 5 years ago. Instead direct your thoughts & focus your energy on how much you are loved. Embrace what God says about you! You are forgiven, redeemed, a new creation, accepted, beloved, beautiful and His.
Brave
God’s love penetrates so deeply & fills you so completely that there’s no room for fear! If you’re not feeling strong & courageous you need to meditate on how deeply you are loved.
“Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.” I John 4:18 NLT
Since it is Musical Monday…here’s a great reminder from Nichole Nordeman: His love makes me brave!
Declaration of Righteousness
God has declared that you are righteous in Christ! So declare your independence TODAY from condemnation and guilt over your past! You are free! You are righteous! Receive what you were given!
“For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sin.” Romans 3:23-24 NLT
Whom the Son sets free is truly free!
Wonderfully Made
I’m not going to lie…when I first saw the 3D ultrasound pictures…I was a bit freaked out. They’re kind of…well…they’re kind of creepy. Then my sister showed me this one….
…and I fell in love. I was blown away by this miracle!! To see God’s newest masterpiece as He’s forming her. To see that my newest little niece has my sister’s nose even before she enjoys her birthday. To see her precious face and hand and tummy…the love overwhelmed me. And I cried. It made me want to run to the nearest baby clothing store and purchase the tiniest frilliest little dress ever.
Then I heard God say, “That’s exactly how I felt watching you grow.” And I cried again. Even though He’s the One who forms us and has known us before the foundation of the world, He still gets pumped to see us grow in our mother’s womb. He never gets bored but views us all as little miracles. He calls us masterpieces.
Let this photo of my niece remind you just how valuable you have always been and always will be to Father God.
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Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out; you formed me in my mother’s womb. I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration—what a creation! You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, The days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day.” Psalm 139:13-16 MSG
God is Still God
“Before the mountains were born, before you gave birth to the earth and the world, from beginning to end, you are God.” Psalm 90:2 NLT
On the days when things are not going the way I think they should, I need the reminder that despite what’s going in around me, God is still God. He is constant and consistent. He is the Great Creator. He is love. He is my provider.
One of the fastest ways to straighten out my “I want it now” mindset is praise and worship. My song of the day is Desert Song by Hillsong United. It came up on my iPod today and I listened to it on repeat. The whole song is fantastic, but there’s one lyric that just hit it for me today: “All of my life, in every season, You are still God; and I have a reason to sing. I have a reason to worship.”
One of the reasons praise and worship is so important is because it reminds us who our God is and how big He is. How good He is. Singing this song on repeat today reminded me who God is and it brought me out of that “do it my way, God” mindset.
Distractions
I had one simple task.
Install new door handle on the bathroom door. (Funny story about my roommate being trapped in the bathroom when it broke and my panic thinking I may have to break the door down to rescue her…but that would distract us from what I was saying. What was I saying? Oh yeah…one simple task.)
That’s it. The same one simple task I’ve had since I bought the new handle 4 days ago.
So I installed the latch and the strike. Easy peasy. 2 whole minutes. Then I hit a snag. The new handle base is ever so slightly smaller than the previous one. Crap. Now I need to paint. I love to paint. But I’m not wearing paint clothes and I ALWAYS get paint on myself and my clothes. ALWAYS. I seriously have 3 long sleeve and 3 short sleeve painting shirts, a pair of painting jeans, a pair of painting sweats and a pair of painting shorts. I had more but I recently purged. I also have painting socks and shoes…but I digress. I decided to brave it and paint without paint clothes…because I need to get back to writing.
So I touch up the paint. For the first time I didn’t get paint on my clothes. All over my hand, but not the clothes! Victory!! Happy dance. Oooh! I need dancing music. Where’s my iPod?
Mid-way through Everything is Awesome I realized I now have to wait for the paint to dry before I can finish installing the handle. Crap. What should I do while I wait? Oooh! I know! I can paint the sides of the guest room door that I somehow forgot to paint when I painted the front and back of the door. No. That would require paint clothes for sure and a tarp so that I don’t get any more paint on the carpet. And if I start painting then I will want to pull out my canvases and work on one of my in process masterpieces. (I use the word masterpieces loosely.) This will completely hinder my plan of writing all day.
What’s the point of all this random (besides giving me something to do while I wait for the paint to dry)?
The point is how many times do we get “so busy” and distracted by little things? They may even be good things or shiny things. But being busy actually prevents us from focusing on the important things for our purpose, goals, and dreams.
Do yourself a favor and take some time with the Lord today about your distractions. Ask Him for wisdom and revelation about your purpose (the big picture/long term goal). The thing that’s so big it requires partnership with Him. What about the short term? What’s in your hot little hands right now that you need to focus on? What are the things distracting you that need to be set aside or let go of?
Ephesians 1:15-19, tells us that we can have a spirit of wisdom and revelation to understand what God has for us in the short term (our calling…i.e. what is in our hands right this minute) and long term (our purpose). If you ask Him, He will answer.
Now…I need to go finish installing my bathroom door handle. Then I need to focus on my current writing project.
Reboot for Manic Mondays
It’s Monday. Are you having a manic one? A crappy one? A rough one? A great one? Then I invite you to listen to O Mighty Ones as sung by Catherine Mullins. It is sure to reboot you for the week!
Whenever this is sung on Sunday morning at my church… a dance party breaks out. It’s so much fun to dance before the Lord! And I’ll be honest, it took me a long time to write this blog post because I had to dance around my living room! With lyrics like this….
When I move my body
When I move my feet
When I open my mouth
Then the darkness flees
and
My praise is a weapon
My dance is a weapon
My shout is a weapon
….can you blame me?
GET UP AND DANCE!!!
Real Power
“Oh! May the God of hope fill you up with joy, fill you up with peace, so that your believing lives, filled with the life-giving energy of the Holy Spirit, will brim over with hope.” Romans 15:13 MSG
This verse may sound light and fluffy. But it isn’t. This verse is about real power.
Joy here is not happiness from external circumstances, but an inward calm delight that overflows into exceeding joy. Maintaining joy in the midst of turmoil and trials is how you are strengthened to keep putting one foot in front of the other.
Peace here is not absence of conflict but rather peace in spite of conflict. This peace allows you to prosper no matter the circumstances. It gives you clarity in chaos. It prevents you from making choices out of anger and emotion.
Hope is about anticipation with pleasure attached to it. It’s about the expectation of good. God is the God of anticipation of good. He’s looking forward to filling you with joy. He’s looking forward to filling you with peace. Will you let Him? Will you receive it?
He is awaiting with pleasure the day you understand the power you have at your disposal and begin to walk in it. God wants to see you prosper as your soul prospers. This begins with receiving and learning to walk in joy and peace, with an expectation of good. That is true power right there.
jillbeingstill 