Tag: hope

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The Mess of Success. Its bull.

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Every day I strive to be a better Shari. Every day I feel like an epic fail. I have the grandest of intentions (the road to Hell is not the only one paved with them). Whatever project that I’m involved with chaos quite often ensues, just ask my church family. My house and my car are organized clutter. Meaning I know it’s there, I just often have to dig for it. My husband says if I’m in an accident it won’t be what’s outside the car that will kill me. I’m blessed with family and friends of high tolerance, but why do they do it? I think their reason is because among the mess has been an occasional success.

Proverbs 14:4 says Where no oxen are, the crib is clean: but much increase is by the strength of the ox.

This verse was pointed out to me through a sermon I listened to a few weeks ago and I’ve not been able to get it out of my head. Mainly because every time I get in my car or walk into my house I think “Oh yeah, I meant to take care of that.” But the flip side of that is when my feet hit the floor at 4:30 a.m. each day my mind is on the ministry. I’m not saying I’m a super saint, it’s just who I’ve been since salvation in 1996. And this verse summed it up for me… there’s a mess in the ministry.

Your mess is likely different. But I can almost guarantee if you’re serving God there’s a mess around you somewhere. Relationships get messy in the ministry, even though you’re supposed to have all the answers. If you have children they’re likely imperfect and highly visible to church critics. Your finances are not what they should be, even though you try to live life biblical. Perhaps your issue is a quick temper or lack of discipline in your life. The point is if you’re in the ministry there is likely a mess somewhere in your life that makes you wonder why God chooses to use you at all. Or am I the only one?

It’s not hard to imagine what the stall of an ox is filled with or what it smells like. It has to be shoveled out and even then it leaves a trail of nastiness behind. But the labor of the field wouldn’t be getting done if the ox wasn’t in the stall. So before you (or I) are too hard on ourselves for the messes in life, remember… that mess just might be what equals success. The world doesn’t need to see perfect people in the ministry (Hallelujah!!!!). They need to see real people working through their day.

So, shovel out the barn and head to the field. You know what the Lord says, “for they are white already to harvest.” – John 4:35

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A Very Social Gospel

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It was a rant on Facebook yesterday that absolutely made my stomach roll over from a woman that I don’t even know; an attack on God. Through profanity she spewed words of hatred provoked by words of gratitude for which her Facebook friends where posting for November. She isn’t one of my social media “friends”; I came by her post through someone else pointing it out to me, and my first reaction was to shut her down in my mind. She wasn’t someone I would likely have contact with. And I didn’t know if I would even have the words to say that could change her mind should we ever meet. And then as God so often does, she is there in my mind this morning and I’m not shutting her down I’m praying for her; that a friend of God will cross her path today. Or maybe perhaps through this post or face to face, I’ll have the chance to tell her why it is that I and others feel so blessed.

I don’t know why it should surprise me that people turn away from God, look at Israel.  God’s chosen nation, delivered out of Pharaoh’s hand, pillars of fire, manna from Heaven, water from the rock and yet still they murmured. Imagine if they’d have had the tool of Social Media!

SMH, Rather be DOA by the Lord, TISNF, Egypt rocked. BBL, walking in the wilderness S2D.

For you non “Facebookers” – Shaking my head, I’d rather be dead on arrival by the Lord, this is so not fair. Egypt was such fun. Be Back later, walking in the wilderness starving to death.

The Real version: Exodus 16:3 ~ And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.

These words came from people who had seen God up close and personal. So there should be no shock when they are spewed forth from someone who may or may not have been raised in a Christian home. Who may work with the murmur-ers, or perhaps is in the battle of a lifetime, and cannot understand why a merciful God would allow it. How do you explain that? How do you explain to someone in 140 characters or less (Twitters maximum post) Who God is, What He Does, and Why it happens?

You can’t. God is beyond what we can imagine, so how could you possible sum Him up in 140 characters? You can however be the link.

My blogs generally run from 500 to 700 words. Too many for a social media post. But with just a few words I can, through the power of social media, draw you into my blog where you’ll read the 500-700 words.  The same is true when dealing with a lost person. If I can just drop a few Words of interest, perhaps they’ll be drawn into a deeper desire to know the Christ of Who I speak. So what are those words? There is no magic conjunction, but there is a commonality.

Christ spoke:

Acceptance to the outcast.

Peace to the broken.

Healing to the sick.

Provision to those without.

His words were circumstance specific. And so must ours be.

To the woman who spewed venomous words I must have the antidote. She spoke hatred, I have to speak love. She questioned God, I must prove Him. That’s how it works. It won’t likely happen with one happenstance visit. But if over time, little by little she sees the love of God working in my life she just may be drawn in to know more about this man called Jesus.

So… would Jesus use social media? He was a very social Guy, so maybe – “BBL BFF. Really! Be ready!

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Discouraged? Have I got a verse for you!

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It’s not hard to find discouragement in the world. Look at any number of posts on Facebook or Twitter and you find a world of hurt. Bring up the subject with friends and most will have an immediate recitation of events and dates. People let us down, we let ourselves down, life doesn’t go as planned and then Satan jumps on the bandwagon and shouts “They’re playin’ my song!” And we, in our weakened state say “Play it again Sam…” And rehearse the heartache again and again until it consumes us and we’re miserable. I speak truth because I’ve lived it.

When my children were small and someone or something had made them upset, all I wanted to do was hold them; I wanted to fix their world. The smaller they were the simpler it was, but as they grew so grew the complexity of their hurt and my hugs no longer had the impact I desired. They grew up and made the world their own and found somebody else to hold them when there was pain. They married and together those new found friends gave me grandbabies and the circle continues. That circle of life that is filled with an abundance of love, pain, and discouragement. That circle continues too.

It is in those times when we’re all grown up that the world seems the harshest and it’s in those times when I’ve found the God sized lap that I can climb into and He holds me just like I held my girls when they were small.

In search of encouragement this morning I found the sweetest verse that gave me a glimpse inside Heaven. When God was about to send Jesus into the world as our Savior, He was still His Son. He wanted to fix our world so bad that He’d do the unthinkable as a parent and sacrifice that which He loved most. And Jesus went voluntarily without hesitation because He wanted to fix our world too. Together the Father and Son had had the perfect life, but for the first time Jesus was going to experience life the way we know it to be, very imperfect. I could imagine the words in Isaiah 42:6 to have been the conversation between God and His Son…

I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;

“I will hold thine hand.” Is that not the sweetest thought ever? That God, the Creator of all tells the Son, the Creator of all, I called you and I promise to stand by You and strengthen You. He promises to hold His hand not only in the work but when the world lets Him down. When the angel was sent from heaven to strengthen him in his agony in the garden, just before He went to the cross, God fulfilled that promise. And it’s a promise that carries over to us. He’s called us and will in no way turn His back on us, but His unchanging hand will hold our hand as a loving Father does through it all.

Discouraged? Take heart that Your Father, the Creator of all has your hand, and He’s not letting go. Look up!

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Shipwrecked Faith

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Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, Spain: Shipwreck at sunset

I Timothy 1:19 ~ Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck:

I often question why I see people walking away from God. How one minute you can be upon the mountain and the next minute they’re at the lowest depths of the seas. I don’t understand how you can stand and praise God for all He’s done for you, how much He’s done in your life and then fail to mention Him, come to church or seem care about spiritual things. And then I realize that without God’s grace my faith could have been shipwrecked as well. I don’t ever want anyone to think that I am above failure in spiritual matters, lest I be the next one that falls. I heard someone say the other day that they would have gotten upset over someone spreading lies on them until they realized the lie wasn’t as bad as the reality the person didn’t know. Yea, I feel like that.

Reality Check

I haven’t suffered like Paul or any number of my friends; so I cannot say I understand their pain. I can say that I’ve witnessed saints of God in the face of horrific battles come out praising God. I’ve watched them do it quietly and I’ve watched them do it loudly. They had only One common thread running through their lives, Christ. He’s the reality check. Without Him, none of it would make sense. Paul had been literally shipwrecked, beaten within an inch of his life, jailed and abused and yet praises God through it all. Because Paul did his own reality check; he looked to Christ, and then lived his life through Christ. Paul’s scars were many, but not as many as the Lord’s. Paul had been forsaken, but not as many times as Christ. Christ had no sin and yet was willing to die in the place of all sinners; Paul had sinned, slain those who he now called brothers and sisters, could he not at least live for Christ. A reality check for me is the fact that any conversation I have with Paul or Christ when I get to Heaven will not start out with “Let me tell you what happened to me on earth…” No. I don’t think I’ll be showing them the scar of hurt feelings, career let downs, or any other of the many things that have happened in my life that I thought were devastating. They won’t compare. So my trivial excuses for allowing my faith to get shipwrecked won’t fly in the face of the reality of what Christ can do. He’s so much more than we give Him credit for.

Reasoning Choices

A shipwrecked faith is a choice. And perhaps I should define “shipwrecked faith” as the abandonment of faith, not the doubt or temporary setback any one of us can experience. I’m talking walking out on God and never looking back. Those who do have to reason within their minds the choice they’ve made. But one reasoning I’ve yet to understand, and pray I never do is, how do you reason away the peace of God? Every trial I’ve been through draws me closer to Him because I know He alone is my Hope. So to walk away from that is leaving all hope behind, and is it not human nature to desire hope?

I guess this thought is heavy on my heart this morning because it’s Homecoming Sunday at our church. And I can’t help but think, just for a minute, on those who aren’t coming. Over the years we’ve lost so many who have walked out on God. Not gone to another church and served elsewhere, just quit! They chose to crash the ship of grace into the jagged rocks of despair. They could have landed the ship on the Rock of Jesus Christ Himself and He would have steadied the craft, but instead they got out of the boat and fought the waves on their own. Crazy, right? It may be a metaphor, but if you’re out of the boat, you know what I mean.

Come Home. Peace, Hope and Joy are waiting at the door.

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Are you without?

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Romans 5:6-11 ~ For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.

Without Him we were Without Strength

There is a certain arrogance in all the earth pre-salvation, a deception from the depths of Hell that you don’t need God to complete your life, or to save you from Hell. It’s mostly present on the good days. It’s those days when they look in the bank and see money, when they look in the mirror and see beauty, when they look inwardly and see health. When all is well. And then it happens…just past the copious (abundance) carnality lies mortality and reality. Sadness or sorrow strike and suddenly you realize that all the money in the world can’t buy health, beauty or happiness. And in reality you are weak. And when you’ve realized that and the arrogance comes back… “I have to fight against this, else I’ll be devoured in grief;” only you’ve not realized it yet but you’re already in the lions mouth.

Without Him we were Without Goodness

I am always in awe of the American military force. They willingly put their lives on the line for a Nation that has allowed the hierarchy and political pundits to throw them to the wolves, who’d sooner they be devoured than defend “their” soil. Nor can I understand how over 2,000 years ago as Christ hung on the cross, crucified by the political and religious factions, yet still willing to die for us so that we could have the hope of eternity in Heaven. I know on most days my goodness is limited at best. And then I look at my children and grandbabies and think about eternal separation. And for a split second I get it. We’d do anything possible to keep from being separated. And when Christ hung on that cross, He did it so that a Holy God could be with an unholy people.

Without Him we were Without Hope

Until you’ve discovered the hope of accepting what Christ did for you, you’ll never get the joy of having hope. The joy in realizing that the fear of death is gone, that He control’s the universe and that come what may you have a home waiting for you in Glory that will allow you to live in a state of perfection with a perfect family, forever. We don’t have to understand His ways, we only have to remember His willingness to die for us. If He was willing to do that, He’s not going to waste our lives by allowing us to go through something without reason, we have a Hope! His Name is Jesus.

Jesus was the final atonement allowing us at-ONE-ment. One in Him. He is our completion.

I’m so thankful this morning for the Hope that dwells within my heart and I am not without. When I’m discouraged, or worried about the circumstances in life, how awesome it to know that Jesus is in control.

How about you? Are you weak, worried, wrong?…God’s got you covered.

Don’t know for sure? 

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Things that Restore a Relationship

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#thingsthatdestroysarelationship

Trending today on twitter ~ things that destroy a relationship

I find it somewhat odd that most everyone wants a great relationship with those they love but the media caters to anything but. Television, social media, print media and most all other forms of media have a fascination with promoting the worst of the worst. It’s a most definite trend for people young and old to make their heartaches known to the world on social media and then in the next post tell the world to mind their own business. What irony! And the end result of all that ranting is more heartache and a destroyed relationship, the very thing they didn’t want.

So… how do we not destroy our relationships?

1 Corinthians 13:13

And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these [is] charity.

The greatest of the three is love, but love alone is not enough to keep from destroying a relationship else many couples would still be together; all three are crucial.

Faith

While a foundation in the faith of Christ Jesus is key to any good relationship, I have unfortunately witnessed many Christians with lousy relationships, in many of these cases I’ve seen that a relationship moving too fast destroys the entire relationship. Somewhere between “I do” and “I’m done” they lost faith in one another. I don’t throw stones; I may have the 33 year wedding anniversary tee shirt but it’s got some holes in it. But as I grow closer in my relationship with Christ, what I discover is my relationship with David grows closer too! We haven’t always been perfect, or anywhere close, but there are some things that have kept us together, and faith in each other is one of them.

Mariam Webster’s definition of faith is:

1)     Allegiance to duty or a person : loyalty. A fidelity to one’s promises,  sincerity of intentions

2)     Belief and trust in and loyalty to God: belief in the traditional doctrines of a religion; firm belief in something for which there is no proof, complete trust.

3)     Something that is believed especially with strong conviction; especially : a system of religious beliefs

Can you see why it’s so important? Allegiance, fidelity and a sincerity of intentions… that’s what we all want! But we’re human, we let each other down, break our promises and sometimes our sincerity is about as real as a signature at the bottom of a letter to “To Whom it may concern.” I speak truth, do I not? But when faith in God comes into the picture we learn to trust Him to help us trust each other and it’s that “strong conviction” that will keep a relationship together in the toughest of times.

Hope

1)     To cherish a desire with anticipation; to desire with expectation of obtainment

2)     To expect with confidence: trust.

3)     To hope without any basis for expecting fulfillment

Sometimes that’s all we have. Faith appears to be gone, the “I love you’s” are no longer spoken, but we hope (a cherished desire) that a certain relationship will be mended. It would be a sad world without it. With it we can dream and imagine of that day when our relationship with that person is restored and whole again and with faith God can align all the circumstances for that very thing to happen. I have that “tee shirt” too.

Charity (love)

The greatest of these. And why is it the greatest? Because it is the foundation of both faith and hope.

John 3:16 – For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. God gave the ultimate sacrifice so that we could have the ultimate relationship with both Him and those we love. He gave His Son for an example that we might understand loving people takes sacrifice.

How do we not destroy a relationship? We continually take an honest look at ourselves first and in so doing we’ll see that we’re messed up too. If Christ can give His life on the cross for us, surely it’s not too much to ask for a little compassion and understanding from us toward our family and friends.

#ThingsThatRestoreARelationship