"If I Had Two Hands....Doing The Same Thing....Lifted High"

A few posts back, I mentioned we have a “new” pastor and that our church family has changed over the past few years. God has convicted me on this and really made me think….he is not my “new” pastor, he is MY pastor and the people I gather with in worship, grow with in Bible study, serve with in our church community, and fellowship with in and outside of our church building - they are MY church family. I do miss the family and fellowship I once had, but believe with all my heart that God places the members in the body as He pleases (1 Cor. 12:18). God has really been putting a love for the family I have now on my heart. There are several within my church that I have a longing to get to know better but it is getting out of my comfort zone and initiating that contact.



God is definitely working and moving within our church - I see it in this blog and the direction He has been leading our prayers, the direction He has given our pastor, and comments I have heard from others within our church - we are of one accord with His Spirit (Acts 1:14) - and it is VERY exciting to anticipate Him and what He is going to do in and thru us.

This last week, God has really spoken to me about how He is worthy.

1. He is worthy to be prayed to because He listens and acts on behalf of His people crying out to Him.
2. He is worthy of our repentance and living a life according to His Word.
3. He is worthy of us living and knowing His redemptive plan - if angels desire to look into this (1 Peter 1:12) - how much more should we.
4. He is worthy of us getting to know Him intimately - in prayer, His Word, by experience.
5. He is worthy of us encouraging others - coming along side those weaker in the faith and lifting them up (Romans 15:1, 1 Thess. 5:14)
6. He is worthy of us living the victorious, abundant life He calls us to (John 10:10) - He does not want us shackled to our past, to our failures, to our sins - He is the Victorious God and He lives in and thru us.
7. He is worthy of our praise, our worship - it is ALL about Him.
8. He is worthy of our joy - live like there is a distinction between those that are His and those that are not. (Malachi 3:18)
9. He is worthy of our expectation - He will never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5) - He searches to and fro looking for a heart He can show Himself mighty (2 Chronicles 16:9). Expect Him - He shows up!

*** This is a recap of the previous post on PERSEVERE ***

For the past several years, I have tried to make a point to circle the word “all” in my Bible when it is talking about groups of people responding to God. The thought that “all” could actually be on the same page when it comes to Christ, who He is, or what He has called us to, blew my mind. Sometimes it seems overwhelming that we could get EVERYONE to do ANYTHING for ANYBODY. But yet, we are One Spirit (1 Cor. 6:17, Eph. 2:18, Eph. 4:4, 1 Cor. 12:13), Christ prayed in John 17 that WE would be ONE - as He and the Father are one. WOW!

Last Sunday, God put a song on my heart that I have not been able to get out of my head. It is by Jars of Clay and is called “Two Hands”. They sing, “I use one hand to pull You closer, the other to push You away….but what if I had two hands, doing the same thing, lifted high”.

Grasp the thought of that for a brief moment. What if ALL of us were doing the same thing for the glory of God. I’m not talking about literally lifting both hands high in worship - I’m talking about our hearts - in it’s current state; whatever that is - agreeing we NEED God, we want to SEE God, being OPEN to God - OPEN to God only; not expecting WHAT He might do - but just expecting HIM.

PERSEVERE



Beth Moore recently said we all want to be OVERCOMERS, but we want nothing we have to overcome. How very true!

I have been thinking about those that give up and walk away from God when the going gets tough - I don’t understand that mentality - is the situation going to be better because you gave up on God? I FEEL like giving up sometimes but then I wonder, on what? My circumstance is still the same, I’m not despairing of life - I FEEL like giving up - but on what? If I say, ‘I am done with God’ - what does that do for me? I’m still in the same mess.

There have been a few instances in my life, where God used a particular area of what I was going thru to mirror what was happening on a larger scale - like within my church or others God was bringing into my path. I’ve been praying about this season I am in and how I so want OUT, but not without taking everything with me God wants me to have. I try to come before the Lord with all honesty and sincerity, seeking Him, and knowing there could be so much more to this than just little ole me. So some of the same feelings and struggles that I have been dealing with in trying to remain faithful and full of hope - trusting God and believing Him; I have been praying for my church.

I asked the Lord to give me an acronym - for one, I thought it would be fun, and two, I thought it would make it easier to remember and pray thru. You know what? He did - pretty much in order with where I have been on this journey…….PERSEVERE!

Persevere in:

Prayer - pray, pray, pray - our youth pastor preached on prayer this past Sunday - very good and encouraging message. He had his own acronym: PUSH - Pray Until Something Happens. Keep praying - don’t give up. Over and over again in the Word, God tells us to pray, to cry out, to cast our cares on Him - it is not so He can hear about it and walk away doing nothing. I HAVE to believe He is doing something whether I see it right now or not.

Evil (acknowledging) - “Lord, search my heart and see if there is any wickedness in me” (Psalm 139)- I wrote a blog entry on this November 9, 2010 - you can search it in the blog archive to the right.

Redemption (understanding) - after the Lord allowed me to see the evil within; I was despairing - I needed mercy and I was pleading for it. I have always viewed God as a judge and out to get me when I mess up, but I knew this was wrong, so I started asking the Lord to show me who He was in my sin. He lovingly said, ‘You want to know who I am in your sin…I paid for it, I died for it, I took it, it’s now mine…and I’m going to make it beautiful.’ He can bring beauty from our ashes - He is our Redeemer!

Seeking God- my views of the Lord have been so messed up for so long; I want to KNOW Him - the REAL Him on the pages of Scripture. We need to KNOW God and you do that by reading His Word - faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.

Encouraging others - I have a small group of girlfriends I text/email periodically with scripture, devotions, or to let them know I am thinking about them and praying for them. Honestly, this is very therapeutic, it helps keep my focus off me and gets me praying for others - our friends have needs to and they are also longing for God to answer their prayers - encourage them and lift them up.

Victorious living - recently, I started dealing with thoughts that I needed to step out of the church scene. It was kind of a self-preservation motive (so I thought). I’m part of a prayer group, I lead a small group and a Sunday School class, I sit/stand up close in the sanctuary praising my God - I already mentioned my girlfriends that I try to encourage in their own walks with the Lord. Please understand, I’m not saying this to be “Well, look at her” and be all pious - I started thinking about what everyone would think if they knew what I was dealing with - what a hypocrite I am! I started getting sorrowful in thinking these thoughts and pulling away - I love serving - I love encouraging - I love my girls! I need this - I want this! Then I started thinking, since when did sin dictate God’s call on my life? I read He is the Victor - I have victory in Him - greater is He that is in me - in my weakness, He is strong - Remember Redemption!

Exalt Him - when you start feeling Him move you in prayer, Him showing you His plan of redemption - and how even the angels try to look into and understand this - when you realize you are forgiven and He reveals Himself to you in a greater way you never knew before so you begin sharing with others and encouraging them that victory is ours - all you can do is praise Him - exalt Him - lift His name on high - He is our God!

Rejoice - even now while in this storm - rejoice! You are going to come thru with so much more than you asked for - He has begun a good work in you - your faith is more precious than silver or gold - He is sovereign and in control!

Expect Him - how many times in Scripture; especially the Psalms - does the Psalmist begin with crying out but then turns to praise because they know God is going to show up! If we truly expected God to move on behalf of our prayers and because of who we are in Him and His faithfulness and love for us, our prayer meetings would be packed out. We pray and pray - walk away - and never receive our answer. Do we not believe He will answer? I don’t know what it is - but I believe we need to persevere in EXPECTING God!

Sorry this was so long; but I hope it spoke a word to someone! PERSEVERE! He is with you - He sees - He knows - and He is worth it!

Advance....

I have been reflecting on the past couple of years and what God has shown me in this valley - there has been so much and I am learning to be thankful and rejoice in this trial (James 1:2; 1 Peter 1:6). I have been reflecting on God’s goodness and faithfulness - how I have been praying for deliverance (Psalm 71 specifically plus NUMEROUS others) but He has been answering in a different way - He has truly done above and beyond what I have been asking or imagining (Ephesians 3:20) - revealing so much about Himself that I had not experienced before.

One of my favorite verses is Hebrews 11:6 - But without faith it is IMPOSSIBLE to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that HE IS, and that He is a REWARDER of them that diligently seek Him.

I have asked the Lord to strengthen my faith and told Him my desire to know Him - really KNOW Him. How can I believe that HE IS if I don’t know WHO He is. I shared more about this in a much previous post. God has been faithful to this prayer but I didn’t expect Him to answer the way He did. In 1 Peter 1:7 we are told that our faith is more precious than gold or silver that perishes and our faith will often times be refined, as these precious metals are, in a fiery furnace - I didn’t want that; just the result of that. I wanted to know God as He is talked ABOUT in the Bible - such as My Deliverer, My Hiding Place, My Refuge, My Ever Present Help, My Redeemer, My Saviour, My Strength, My Rock - but I didn’t want to go through ANYTHING that would MAKE me really search Him out as such or depend with every ounce of my being that this was true - HE IS EVERYTHING HE SAYS HE IS and I HAVE to believe it - I HAVE TO KNOW IT! (See Job 42:5)

This reflection time has been going on the past several weeks and I have been amazed looking back on 2010 - even back into 2009 - and seeing my God right there with me. He is faithful - even when we are not (2 Timothy 2:13).

I started thinking about the order of events - or insights - He has given me along the way. I have believed for quite a while that the Lord wants me to declare His marvelous works and what He is done for and thru me during this time (Psalm 71:17) - that is part of the reason for this blog, Facebook updates, encouraging texts/emails to friends, etc. - it’s His story in my life and I want others to know He is there - REALLY THERE - but He is not doing NOTHING - He is doing marvelous works - I just want others to take notice - we are encountering the Living God, the Creator of the Universe, the Lover of our Souls, the Father that sent His Son to die on our behalf so we can be with Him FOREVER.

Satan wants us to feel like we are the only one’s going thru life with struggles, heartache, or pain - that there is no God to save us (Psalm 71:11) - he wants us to think we are hopeless - He comes to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10); but it’s not necessarily quick - he sets us up and is very patient (1 Peter 5:8), looking for an opportune time to accomplish his destruction in our lives (Luke 4:13). WE ARE NOT ALONE IN THIS - I’m not just talking about God being with us; strengthening us - but 1 Peter 5:9 says our brethren are experiencing the same afflictions in the world.

Don’t you want to know how they got thru it - or are getting thru it?

Don’t you want to hear them say God showed up - and what He did?

I DO!

I keep hearing people want Christians to BE REAL - AUTHENTIC - quit acting like we have it all together. I do believe there is truth to that, but is it maybe, because they are drowning in life - they see Christians drowning also but we won’t admit it - I think they want to know there is a God - I think WE WANT TO KNOW IT, TOO - but we are too scared and shocked to say it. Hosea 4:6 says, “My people perish for lack of knowledge.” WE DON’T KNOW HIM - DON’T HAVE KNOWLEDGE OF HIM and WE are perishing because of it - HIS PEOPLE - and we are letting a lost world down - we are letting ourselves down - we are letting our Saviour down; who came to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10) and told us to seek first His kingdom (Matthew 6:33).

This post was supposed to be about PERSEVERANCE - we need to press on - ADVANCE. That is the theme our church has taken for this coming year. That is exactly what I am praying for - to advance in my walk with God, to advance in my knowledge of Him, to advance in growing my faith, to advance in seeking His Kingdom.

I will have to share more soon!

He Is Doing A NEW Thing....NOW It Shall Spring Forth

Happy New Year, Everyone! This afternoon I was reading the first couple chapters of Genesis and something jumped out at me that so blessed me, I couldn’t wait to share it.

Genesis 1:11-12 is the 3^rd day of creation - God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

When I read this passage, I automatically visualize tall trees, shrubs, flowers in bloom, all kinds of various vegetation fully grown and flourishing on the land - but then I read Genesis 2:4-5.……

When the Lord God made the earth and the heavens - and no shrub of the field HAD YET APPEARED on the earth and no plant of the field HAD YET SPRUNG UP, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground.

So God spoke it and IT WAS DONE - it was there - but it was still underground - IT HADN’T APPEARED YET - but the promise was good!

My prayer this coming year is that we do not lose heart in the promise of what God has spoken to us - He spoke it - IT IS DONE! I pray this is the year it SPRINGS FORTH in our lives. The Lord God had not sent rain yet - He is our Living Water and we are to be cleansed by the washing of His Word - faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God; and His Word is alive, active, sharper than any double-edged sword. I pray we stay in His Word - watering the seeds of promise.

We also read that there was no man to work the ground - we have a part in bringing about His promise - persevere, be diligent, DON‘T GIVE UP. I also believe we have a part in helping others reap those promises - we should encourage each other, speak truth to one another, pray for each other, and love each other - we can help till the ground of our friends’ hearts to help cultivate the seed God has placed within them, bringing forth abundant fruit for His glory!

We should be EXPECTANT and EXCITED - it is a NEW year, His mercies are NEW every morning (Lamentations 3:23) - behold, He is doing a NEW thing; NOW it shall SPRING FORTH; shall ye not know it? (Isaiah 43:19) - hath He said, and shall He not do it? Or hath He spoken, and shall He not make it good? (Numbers 23:19).

Happy New Year!