loved by the Father

Dry Bones

Recently I went away with 100 some young adults and the weekend was filled with fellowship with others and God. The theme was come alive. And the weekend’s passage was on the valley of dry bones in Ezekiel 37:1-14.

“God grabbed me. God’s Spirit took me up and set me down in the middle of an open plain strewn with bones. He led me around and among them—a lot of bones! There were bones all over the plain—dry bones, bleached by the sun.He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”

I said, “Master God, only you know that.”

He said to me, “Prophesy over these bones: ‘Dry bones, listen to the Message of God!’ “God, the Master, told the dry bones, “Watch this: I’m bringing the breath of life to you and you’ll come to life. I’ll attach sinews to you, put meat on your bones, cover you with skin, and breathe life into you. You’ll come alive and you’ll realize that I am God!”

I prophesied just as I’d been commanded. As I prophesied, there was a sound and, oh, rustling! The bones moved and came together, bone to bone. I kept watching. Sinews formed, then muscles on the bones, then skin stretched over them. But they had no breath in them.

He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath. Prophesy, son of man. Tell the breath, ‘God, the Master, says, Come from the four winds. Come, breath. Breathe on these slain bodies. Breathe life!’”

So I prophesied, just as he commanded me. The breath entered them and they came alive! They stood up on their feet, a huge army.

Then God said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Listen to what they’re saying: ‘Our bones are dried up, our hope is gone, there’s nothing left of us.’ “Therefore, prophesy. Tell them, ‘God, the Master, says: I’ll dig up your graves and bring you out alive—O my people! Then I’ll take you straight to the land of Israel. When I dig up graves and bring you out as my people, you’ll realize that I am God. I’ll breathe my life into you and you’ll live. Then I’ll lead you straight back to your land and you’ll realize that I am God. I’ve said it and I’ll do it. God’s Decree.’”

Ezekiel 37:1-14

We were encouraged to look at the dry bones(areas) in our lives and ask for life to be brought to that area. And I thought of a few areas that I knew already that needed life but they were areas I have thought about before. And part of me thought I have this in the sense that this is nothing new. Until Saturday night Bryce Taylor preached, God grabbed my heart. He showed me through Bryce that I had a victim mentality with my past. Not in a way most people think but in a way of my relationship with God.

You see I struggle so much with people who have a victim mentality and who live in that. I live by this quote because there is so much truth in it and I have seen countless time where it has played out. “I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it,” Charles Swindoll said this. And I do understand there is a time where someone needs process what has happened in their life. But I also believe that you can’t stay in that moment because we wouldn’t move forward in life and we will miss some of the great things God has in store for us. While I do not say this aloud it does sometimes go through my head, when I think the person should have worked through the hurt and pain in their life, my thought is that you just need to work through it and move on in life. What right do I have to say that? I have not walked their journey in life so I do not have the right to see when the person should not be living in the moment of their hurt and pain anymore.

Let’s go back to me now. That Saturday night God showed me that I will use my past as a crutch when I relate to Him. And the very thing that frustrates me when I see it in other people. He showed me that I am doing the same thing with Him. I see Him through this filter of my past hurts and pained how others have treated me. And I only allow God so close because if He gets any closer He might hurt me like other people in my life. And as a grow older and more mature in my walk with Him, I might let him a step closer but that is still a wall that I did not let Him past. Reality is that He will not hurt me and He will not leave me. “Be strong. Take courage. Don’t be intimidated. Don’t give them a second thought because God, your God, is striding ahead of you. He’s right there with you. He won’t let you down; he won’t leave you.” Deuteronomy 31:6 Wow what a great promise! I decided that night that I am going to believe Him at His promises even when it is hard. And live in His truth not in the lies I have been told about me or about Him. Even when I may not fully believe it, I am going to tell myself these promises till I believe them with all my heart. And I am going to allow God to come closer than ever and no longer hold Him at an arm’s distance.

What area in your life needs life? Is there an area with your relationship with God where you are using your past as an excuse to not allow God to get past your wall?

June 6, 2017 1

Validation

Recently I had pictures a friend took pictures of me. As I was looking at these pictures, I started to pick apart everything I did not like about my body. And it spiraled from there. I did not see the joy on my face from twirling around in my bright yellow dress that billowed out. And I did not see my pretty blue eyes that were passed down from generations before me. I did not see the passion I have to serve others.

I posted a few of the pictures on Facebook. I had encouraging comments made by friends. These comments lifted my self esteem for the time being.

Late on when I was texting a friend, I was reminded I am a daughter of the King. And what He says about me is more important than what I think of myself or what others think of me. We should be going to our Creator first instead of others. And I need to rest in what He says about me. Because He knows everything about me including all my flaws. And if my Creator who sees everything about me still loves me and thinks I am beautiful, how can it get better than that!

While getting encouragement from others is not wrong, it is wrong when I look for validation in people rather than my Creator. Most of the time when we have these moments, it is Satan’s distraction to our purpose that we were created for. If Satan can distract us with thinking about what is wrong with us rather than about our purpose, then Satan has us right where he wants us. Because it is saying that when God created us it was not good enough. Reality is when God created us, He created us exactly how He wants us to be.

God made you for a specific purpose and with out you in this world there would be a piece missing in God’s plan. Some days I think God looks at the world as a puzzle and we are all piece in that puzzle. Each piece of puzzle serves a purpose in a puzzle. So if we do not fulfill the purpose we are created for then a piece will be missing in God’s masterpiece. Let’s celebrate who God created us to be!! And find our identity in our Creator and not in other people.

Photo credit goes to Jennifer Weaver.

May 2, 2017 0

Love

Why do we feel the need to always give our opinion or give our take on a situation or a person? (I know its ironic that I am asking this questions on a blog.) But today I read a Facebook post that someone made a judgement about a different religion. As far as I know the person that made the judgement did not know the people they made the judgements about. It got me thinking why do we feel the need to make judgements about others just because of our differences. Too often we use our differences to make judgements to put a divider between us and the person we make judgements about.

When Jesus was asked about the greatest commandments, this is how he answered this question. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 22:36-40 Jesus did not say that you don’t need to love the person that believes different than you. Or you don’t need to love the person that looks different than you. Or you don’t need to love the person who has hurt you and does not deserve your love. Or you don’t need to love the person the homeless person that crosses your path. Or you don’t need to love the person who decides to love differently than you. There were no exceptions in this commandment. God made every person on this earth different. We are called to love others. Too often we find a reason to not show God’s love to others. We should take time to get to know someone who we may want to pass a judgement on. If we did this we would find the person is not as different as we think. And most likely we would find this person is amazing and they can add a great value to our life.

Another thing to remember is that our words have impact. Too often we say words without thinking about the impact they have. Too often the words we say carelessly have an impact for a lifetime. It is up to us if we want our words to impact positively or negatively.

April 11, 2017 0

Complacency and Indecision

Complacency and indecision is something that can paralyze you. It puts you in a prison in your own life. There are many reasons as to why a person may be complacent or do not want to make a decision. One of the main reasons is fear. Fear can hold you back in life. Sometimes this fear is based on our past experiences and other times it may because of what other people may say or think. I have heard it said that fear stands for False Evidence Appearing Real. And Satan will try to use fear to hold us back from what God has called us to do. Because he knows the people we are going to impact and the life change that is going to happen because we stepped into something God has called us to.

There are times that God is calling us to wait on Him but many times God is asking us to step out in faith. And too often we will use our fear as an excuse of us not stepping out in faith. We will mask it as we are waiting on God. When in reality God could be like, “would you just do this? I have great things in store for you. And if you could only see the exciting journey I have for you if you would take this first step.” Many times our fear will lead us to indecision and complacency. Complacency and indecision kills growth. It stunts the growth God may have in store for us.

God gave us the power to step past our fear and walk into victory and the exciting journey He has for us. “for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” 2 Timothy 1:7. Once we step past our fears there is an excitement and freedom that comes with it. How is fear holding you back? What is one thing you wish you would have done a year from today?

April 4, 2017 0

Betrayal

“While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and the elders of the people. Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him.” Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed him.

Jesus replied, “Do what you came for, friend.”

Then the men stepped forward, seized Jesus and arrested him. With that, one of Jesus’ companions reached for his sword, drew it out and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear.

“Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?”

In that hour Jesus said to the crowd, “Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? Every day I sat in the temple courts teaching, and you did not arrest me. But this has all taken place that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples deserted him and fled.” Matthew 26:46-56

I read this passage this morning in my devotions. And after I read it, I started to think about the emotions Jesus went through in this moment. Jesus built a friendship with a man who He knew that was going to betray him. Jesus did this to fulfill His purpose on earth.

I had to think if I knew someone was going to betray or hurt me, I would stay away from this person and not build a friendship with this person. But then I think to myself what if I knew building a friendship with someone who is going to betray/hurt me, will lead them to be introduced to His love or the friendship will lead them or me to their or my purpose in life. Would this make the hurt and the betrayal worth it if this would happen? While I am not advocating for us to willingly put ourselves in situations that we are going to be doormats and we are going to be abused. What I am saying Jesus still chose to build a relationship with Judas, so that our sins can be forgiven.

Sometimes we are asked to do hard things in life. Like show mercy and grace to a person who has betrayed us over and over again so this person can see the unconditional love of Jesus or to adopt a child that might have medical issues because of the choices of the biological parents. While God does not call us to an easy life, we can have the comfort that He is with us in those hard moments of life. And we are not doing it alone.

So what hard thing in life is God asking you to do?

March 27, 2017 0

Identity

Who are you? What is your identity in? Most of us answer by describing our roles in life. We have many roles we play in life. For myself some of the roles are aunt, friend, daughter, photographer, sister, etc. While the roles in my life are part of who I am and they are important to me, it is not where my identity lies. If I find my identity in these roles I will not be satisfied. Because I am finding my satisfaction in something that will always leave a void that only God can fill. “The Bible says that our real problem is that every one of us is building our identity on something besides Jesus.” Timothy Keller

We sometimes answer this question not only with the roles that are in our lives. But sometimes with our past or what has been spoken over us or labels given to us by others in our lives. One example of this would be victim. We sometimes are victims because of what has happened to us in our lives. If we are not careful, it can become our identity. When we think about who we are, we think about what has happened and this becomes who we are. Many times when we are a victim, something is lost and we need to grieve that loss and the hurt. And sometimes we can use their life circumstances to help others through similar situations. But it should not be where our identity lies.

In my own life when I think about the question of who am I, too often the roles in my life come to mind. Rather than where my true identity lies and that is in God and Jesus.

I am a daughter of the King. He is my Father and Creator. “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—” John 1:12

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” 1 John 3:1-2

“For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.” Galatians 3:26

I am His princess and I was accepted into a royal family when I chose Jesus as Lord over my life. “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” 1 Peter 2:9

I am a sinner saved by grace. Jesus paid the penalty for my sin. “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23

I live in freedom and I am forgiven as a child of God. “For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—” Romans 6:6

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:1

“For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.” Romans 5:10

I am loved by a Father unconditionally no matter what I have been through and no matter what I do in my life. His love for me is not contingent on my actions. “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.” John 15:9

“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39

So I ask you again who or what is your identity in? Is it in in our past or the roles that we fulfill in life or is it in our Creator who is the only one that can fill those voids we have?

February 28, 2017 0

Purpose

Purpose….

It seems I have been hearing this word again and again in the last couple weeks. It is to the point now that I am wondering what God is trying to tell me. Many times when God is trying to tell or teach us something that word or phrase or concept keeps being brought into your life in many different ways.

About two weeks ago my Pastor, showed a video and there was a sentence that stuck out to me. “God made me for a purpose and when I delight in Him it’s brought to the surface!” Made for Something Great by James Grocho. In the Old Testament delight was used these two ways: Two of the most common Hebrew terms for delight are hepes [,pej], “to bend towards, to be inclined towards [an object or person], ” and rasa [h’x’r], “to delight or take pleasure in.” In the New Testament delight was used in this way: The Greek word most commonly used for “delight” is eudokeo [eujdokevw], usually used when God’s purpose, resolve, and choice are in view. When we bend towards or are inclined towards God, it is in those moments that He reveals to us what purpose He created us for.

This past weekend, I went on a retreat with about 36 other young adults who love Jesus and have a love for snow and community. The theme for this weekend was drawing near to our Creator. Someone shared Joseph‘s story for devotions one night. Joseph was sold by his own brothers into slavery. He was betrayed by his master’s wife and was put into prison. While he was in prison, he interpreted dreams for his fellow prison mates. Because of this Joseph was taken out of prison by Pharaoh, King of Egypt, to interpret Pharaoh’s dreams. Joseph then was given a position in authority by the King to make sure that Egypt had enough of food for the 7 years of famine. Because of the famine, his brothers came for food in Egypt and Joseph had the opportunity to forgive his brothers for selling him into slavery. And this person at the retreat pointed out that Joseph had to go through what he went through to be brought into the purpose that God created him for.

As I thought about how this last phrase and what Joseph had to go through be in God’s purpose. It made me realize if it wasn’t for what I had not gone through as a child, I would not be where I am today. There was a chain of events that followed me through my childhood and into adulthood that brought me where I am today. Today I believe I am in my purpose that God created me for. In college I realized my purpose in my life is to provide hope to people who are sometimes in their darkest times. And this hope starts with the unconditional love of our Father and Jesus.

Sometimes we have to go through tough times in life to bring us to our purpose and the reason we were created for. So instead of being focused on asking God why bad things or tough things happen in our life, draw near to our Creator and look for the beauty that can come from ashes. And in the days you can not see this beauty or your purpose because life is overwhelming. Look to your Father and ask Him to provide a glimmer of hope that you can hold onto.

February 21, 2017 0

A Gentleman

Recently I read Matthew 19:26, in this verse it states that with God all things are possible. After reading this, I began thinking about situations in my friends and families’ lives. These situations had a common dominator, people are making decisions in their lives that are destructive. These decisions are hurting others in their lives. And my thought after reading this verse was, “God, you have the power to make people change. Why don’t you? It would create less hurt.”

God’s answer to me was the answer of a gentleman. He said “because I do not force myself on others.” I am glad I serve a God who is a gentleman. Because let’s face it I do not do well if someone forces a decision on me, nor do most people. And if God would force us to make decisions or if he made all our decisions then we would just be mere puppets.

God has given us choice. He allows to choose if we are going to accept the gift of grace that He offers us. As much as I wish these individuals who are making these destructive decisions, would see God’s grace and what freedom they could have if they would allow God change their heart. I can not make this choice for them or I can not make them make a different choice. The only I can do is love these people and show them what unconditional love looks like. God’s love is what changes hearts. And we should build relationships with others in the context of showing His love. A saying that we use at work fits well with this. “No significant change happens outside a significant relationship.” So who do you need to spend time with to show the love of a heavenly Father who loves them more they could imagine?

February 7, 2017 0

Hurt

Who will hurt for the little girl
that has been hurt so many times?

Who will hurt for the little girl
that sees the abuse and represses it to move on?

Who will hurt for the little girl
that sees hope in the future but doesn’t believe she deserves that hope?

Who will hurt for the little girl
that is crying out?

Who will hurt for the little girl
that wants to look past her past and not live in it?

Who will hurt for the little girl
that doesn’t believe she deserves what she has been given and what she will be given in the future?

Who will hold the little girl the next time she has been hurt?
I will.

Who said I will?
Me, Your Father, and I always will and always have whether you knew it or not. Your not alone despite your belief.

This poem I wrote when I was in college as I started to began to deal with affects of my past. Sometimes we need to just know that God is there holding us in the midst of pain and the tough times in life. It is in this comfort, He gives us peace for the situation we are going through. It is in His unconditional love for us that we have the strength to keep going. And the hope for a better future. In His love, healing happens if we allow Him to heal that hurt. So whatever your going through know that you have a Heavenly Father that loves you more than you can imagine. And He wants to walk through this journey called life with you. We are not created to live life alone.

January 31, 2017 2

Dreams

Last week my Pastor was preaching on the woman at the well (John 4:1-18). He was talking about her history and where she was at that point in her life. This woman was ridiculed by people in her community. Because of this she would go to the well when no one else was there.

One thing that my Pastor brought up was this woman may have quit dreaming and thinking that her future could be better than what it was. But one day Jesus met her at the well and changed her life. My Pastor then asked us “did you quit dreaming.” This question got me thinking. I realized in the last couple years I somewhat quit dreaming. And when I did dream I would think of a reason why it wouldn’t work. I also had become complacent in my life especially professionally. I put my own ceiling on my career and my life. But by doing this I put limits of myself and on God.

But with some changes in the last couple, this has caused me to start dreaming again. And this week, I was challenged to reflect over the last couple years and where my mindset was at that time. This reflection has made to start dreaming with limits because I serve a God who is limitless. I am no longer going to look at my dreams through the lens of my past failures and hurts. I am excited to dream again and continue making my dreams come true.

What dreams are you not pursuing because of your past, your current circumstances or the limits you put on yourself? So start dreaming, let the Father run with your dreams and take you to places you never imagined.

January 20, 2017 0

Restlessness

Part of having a blog of this nature, is being transparent and vulnerable with others. I do not talk about my struggles in this area of my life very often let alone for all the world to see. But I know this is something that God wants me to share with you all.

In the last month, I have been feeling a restlessness about my singleness. Most days I am happy single, love where I am at in life and would not want it any other way. But this restlessness kept coming back off and on this last month. This was more than usual. New Years eve this year it all came to a head for me. I was feeling lonely and just sick of being single(I watched a Hallmark movie which didn’t help my feelings). Tired of doing life alone as a single woman. Instead of continuing to ruminate in it, I decided to have a heart to heart with God that night before I feel asleep. I laid in my bed with my journal and just poured my heart out to God. I wrote about the feelings that I was having for about the last month or so. And just gave it to Him and let Him love on me. Did this change my singleness? No. And yes I am sure I am still going to struggle with this from time to time. But by the end of writing several pages, I felt loved by my Father and not lonely.

Whether this part of my life will ever change, I am okay with this because I know who God says who I am! And He has an amazing journey planned for me. I also know that I would rather be in God’s will and be single than being out of His will and be married or in a relationship. And no circumstance or feelings I am experiencing will change that. This is a beautiful fact. This New Years eve I have learned to embrace my feelings but in that then give it to God rather than ruminate on it. I also relearned no circumstance or feeling is going to change who God says I am.

January 3, 2017 0

The Waiting Place

This is something that I wrote a little over 3 years ago. Thought I would share this with y’all.

God has been teaching me patience and to wait on his timing. Until recently, I feel like I was in the waiting place(according to Dr. Seuss) for a long time and in many ways I am still in the waiting place. Excerpt from Oh The Places You’ll Go by Dr. Seuss:

“You can get so confused

that you’ll start in to race

down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace

and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space,

headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.

The Waiting Place…

…for people just waiting.

Waiting for a train to go

or a bus to come, or a plane to go

or the mail to come, or the rain to go

or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow

or waiting around for a Yes or a No

or waiting for their hair to grow.

Everyone is just waiting.

Waiting for the fish to bite

or waiting for wind to fly a kite

or waiting around for Friday night

or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake

or a pot to boil, or a Better Break

or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants

or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.

Everyone is just waiting.”

It is in this waiting place that we often get impatient and frustrated with God and life. And we ruin what God may have in store for us. Granted God can use all situations even if its not in His plan for His glory. But where we may end up might not be as good as God intended us to be. We humans have a way of getting in the way of God because we think that we know best for us. But in reality the creature(us) does not see the whole picture like the Creator(God) does. So how can we know what is best for us over the Creator that created us into existance.

Sometimes we need to stay in this waiting place for God to prepare us for something greater than we can imagine. The waiting place is not an easy place to be but it is in that waiting place we can experience the peace and love of our Creator. Even though we may have no idea what is going to happen next. In uncertain times there can be peace and joy because we have our Creator walking beside us in life. Do I have life all figured out? Nor will I ever on this earth but I do know that I am a child of God. Who has a God that loves me more than I can imagine and fathom. (It still amazes me that God would love me and that He wants a personal relationship with me with millions of people on this earth.) And I would rather be in the waiting place with my Creator than on my own. We need to sit back allow God to do the work and be ready to follow His calling for our lives out of the waiting place.

December 29, 2016 0