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Yearly Archives: 2014
Tears as fertilizer
“Those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy. They weep as they go to plant their seed, but they sing as they return with the harvest. ” Psalm 126:5-6
Letting go of the comfortable old for the uncertain new can be daunting and emotional. Even if it hurts, choose to remain open. Don’t let fear steal your future harvest!
There may be tears of pain and grief or even tears of frustration and exhaustion. Think of those tears as fertilizer and don’t let fear stop you! Remain open! Those tears are only for a season.
Seeds
While I was working in the yard today, I found this new little tree (see photo) and it blew me away. The seed wasn’t even in the ground, it was lying on the ground, but it had sent the roots down and the stem up. Without any assistance from anyone the seed did what it was made to do, it grew.
Seeds are fascinating. They are tiny seemingly inconsequential things. But inside them are plants of all kinds…mighty oak trees, fruit trees, beautiful flowers, vegetable plants, weeds, and even poisonous plants.
There’s a lot in the Word about seeds and reaping what you sow. All seeds are designed to take root and grow. That’s just what they do. So be careful what seeds you are sowing in your life and the lives of others.
A Lesson From Job
“I had only heard about You before, but now I have seen You with my own eyes.” Job 42:5
Everyone has hard times, but not everyone learns or grows from those times. You have the choice to become hard and bitter. And You have the choice to remain positive and open to change. Your perspective in the situation really is everything.
Job came out of his situation with a perspective shift, a softer heart & a real relationship with God.
Little Cloud of Faith
On this absolutely gorgeous day…that I’m thoroughly enjoying….I see this little teeny cloud. And I started thinking about Elijah praying to end the drought. I am not praying for rain but I am praying that you get a hold of the same kind of resolve that Elijah had telling his servant and Ahab to run from that teeny cloud, knowing with all that he was that God had answered His prayer.
Faith is believing before you see the manifestation of your promise or answer to your prayer. Knowing that He who has promised is faithful.
“Finally the seventh time, his servant told him, “I saw a little cloud about the size of a man’s hand rising from the sea.”
Then Elijah shouted, “Hurry to Ahab and tell him, ‘Climb into your chariot and go back home. If you don’t hurry, the rain will stop you!’” 1Kings 18:44
Seeing isn’t believing, believing is seeing!
Awe and Wonder
“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”
-Albert Einstein
Today I realized that I can be amazed every single day. Awe and wonder is literally a lifestyle choice. I can choose to look for and experience joy in the everyday. I can choose to expect miracles. I can choose to say, “Father God, what awesome and wonderful things do you have planned for us today?”
I am the only one who determines how I receive from God and perceive the world around me! Only I have the power to decide whether I embrace the awe and wonder of life or whine and complain about it. I am all powerful in how I choose to react.
I know the faith walk ain’t for sissies. Believing God when all the evidence points against it is difficult, especially when you’ve been hurt and disappointed. But that’s exactly the time to look for awe and wonder in your life. That’s when you need to choose to expect good!
Why do you think Jesus called those little bitty kiddos the greatest in Matthew 18?
Think about it? Little kids just believe, and they walk around amazed by everything they see. Everything is new and exciting. That’s exactly what childlike faith looks like. That is what pleases and impresses Jesus.
What if today you expected awe and wonder? What if you went around knowing that our Father has good surprises for you everyday, hidden amongst the ordinary and mundane? What if you truly believed God is for you and not against you? What if today you just believe that God loves you? What if you just received His love like a toddler being picked up and cradled by their daddy?
I will leave you with this…the Greek word “know” in Romans 8:28 actually means to see therefore to know. It is connected to the word optomai (op’-tom-ahee), which means to gaze at something with wide open eyes, as at something remarkable. It means to be amazed by what you’re seeing. This isn’t a factoid to put in your knowledge bank, it is something you witness and are blown away by.
“And we stare long in amazement,in complete wonder, that the Creator of everything loves us so much that He causes everything in our (those loving and living for Him) lives to work together for our good benefit.” Romans 8:28 Jill Translation
You Are Alive
“But God is so rich in mercy, and He loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, He gave us life when He raised Christ from the dead.” Ephesians 2:8
Yes, Jesus died for us, taking ALL our diseases & ALL our sins (past present & future) But that’s only 1/2 the gift! Jesus was resurrected to give us life! Staying focused on sin & death all the time is like hanging in the cemetery & mourning eternally for someone who’s not even dead. There is a time for grieving & dealing with our sin, but we then we need to move on & live the abundant life Jesus was resurrected to give us! #JesusIsAlive #SoAreYou
Jesus Had a Choice
If God asks you to give something up, there’s a purpose in it, and you’ll always have a choice. Even Jesus had a choice.
“No one takes it (His Life) from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.” John 10:18-19
venting and lamenting
Have you ever just gone on a major rant to God about anything and everything negative? The prophet Jeremiah did. His rant is called the book of Lamentations.
But what I love is after venting to God about all the negatory junk-ola in his life Jeremiah then says:
“This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope. Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I hope in Him!” The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.” Lamentations 3:21-26 NKJV
Remember it is not wrong to go to God with both the positive and negative in your life. But after you get the negatory junk-ola off your chest, remind yourself that God is good. Remind yourself there’s always hope in God because of Jesus’s resurrection.
If you learn anything from the prophets, learn that there is always hope when you’re one of God’s kids!
PS Biblical hope is not wishy washy wishing. It is a joyful and confident expectation of God. Speak your hope out of your mouth or sing it as a praise song. There is power in declaration!
Stray Thoughts
“But when he asks he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.” James 1:6
Just because a stray negative thought comes into your head doesn’t mean you have to believe it and let doubt toss you around like a toy ship in a hurricane.
Maintain your hope (your joyful and confident expectation of good from God) by casting down those negative thoughts and reminding yourself in whom you’ve placed your trust. Hope feeds faith!
PS Casting down simply means to throw. How do you throw a thought? By calling it out and saying NO! Then replacing it with God’s truth.
Superabundant
So many people read the first half of this verse and stop…but the life is in the second half.
“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life; and that they may have it more abundantly.” John 10:10
Abundantly means super abundant in quantity and superior in quality. Even when the thief is trying to steal, kill and destroy, Jesus enabled YOU to have a lifetime full of exceedingly abundantly above!
Greater is He that is in you, than he who is in the world.
jillbeingstill 