Category: Christian

“I just want to love God and I want to be a Christian! I really want to see Jesus one day.” The true longing in my son’s voice for the Lord was undeniable, and I knew God was at work in his heart. Hearing those words flow from his mouth was an answer to our many prayers that began before he was born. We have always tread very carefully with salvation when it comes to our children because we want it to be a true act of what God is doing, not merely trying to please Mom and Dad.

The biggest thing that we wanted to see in his life was fruit and evidence that God was really and truly at work in his life. If I’m being honest, it’s a difficult assessment to make without expecting perfection.  I prayed that God would allow me to have the wisdom and insight to know the difference in looking for fruit verses expecting perfection, because at the end of the day we all fall short and he is a child that’s continuing to learn, grow, and mature.

As I was looking for fruit, I realized that was overlooking a heart of brokenness. Beautiful, healthy plants are pruned first, and often look unattractively stubby. Last week I took time to talk with my son about self-control and controlling his emotions. Later that day I walked into my son’s room, and I found him with tear filled eyes.

I immediately asked what was wrong and he answered, “Mom I’m praying that God will help me with self-control and I want to ask if you will pray that for me, too?” Our conversation earlier in the day had ended, but God’s work was just beginning. Although it was a moment of brokenness, it was in fact a beautiful moment. A broken and contrite heart is exactly what God loves. (Psalm 51:17)

Yes, we look for fruit but often times it is proceeded by a broken branch that will in turn produce beauty in abundance! I thank God that He doesn’t leave us broken, but instead He is steadily working to make us new!

I have had countless, disappointing moments in my life that would occur after praying so hard for burdens to be lifted, for problems and conflicts to dissipate, only to find them still circling around me. I have prayed to have a life full of blue skies and then wake up to find that the dark clouds still remain. How could I continue to have a prayerful  response to Jesus’ call to come to Him when we are heavy with burdens, and yet find that the burdens would still remain? There was something I was clearly missing.

I didn’t understand that handing my burdens over to Jesus didn’t mean that the burden would no longer be present in my life, and suddenly disappear. Instead, it meant that I would no longer be the one carrying them. It meant that I could now regain the strength and energy I had lost by allowing the burden, although still present, to be handled and carried by Jesus.

Handing our burdens over to Jesus doesn’t mean that the burden will no longer be present in our lives…

If the burden remains present in your life once you have prayerfully given it over to the Lord, take peace in knowing that it does not equate to unanswered prayer or that it’s not being handled by Jesus. Instead, in this process, there is a greater faith that can be gained, as well as a first-hand experience with watching God handle what was too heavy for us in the first place.

If faith as small as a mustard seed can cause mountains to move, remember, that there is a process in which this mountain has to move, and not just merely disappear. My dear friends, join me in learning to trust the process and rest in knowing that Jesus is at work and will faithfully finish what He has started!

Sometimes the memories, the feelings, and hurts from the past come back. Sometimes they come back in full force seeking to define me once again. The memory of being that one person that was neither seen nor heard by those around me, the memory of being unworthy and not ever find my place of acceptance floods my heart and mind. I can feel the brokenness and insignificance all over again, and my mind’s memory of it all is so vivid. You think that you have left certain parts of your life far behind you, and then you realize that some of it still lingers, still being carried along with you in your heart and mind. It’s the memory of painful truths, that even the distance that time provides cannot completely remove.
As hard as some of the memories can be, the darkness of them only seem to accentuate the majesty and glory of God’s light streaming into my life. I still remember the many nights as a child, a young teen, and a young adult, knelt beside my bed praying, crying in anguish and feeling alone. Although I felt alone, with a heart full of sorrow that nobody understood, I realized that God was present during every moment, wiping away every tear, and hearing every broken word that was uttered before Him. God saw me, He heard me, He was there with me, He answered me, and He provided me with a firm place for my feet to stand upon.

A dark, painful memory flooded by the Light ends up being a beautiful story!

Because of the hard moments, I learned to cherish God’s love, grace, forgiveness, presence, and the many answered prayers He has blessed me with. I learned that He gives hope to the hopeless, that He turns mourning into dancing, and I learned that there really is power in prayer. Sometimes my mind remembers those dark, hopeless nights, but now, instead of just darkness, I also see a very bright light, and we all know what light does to darkness don’t we?
When light is present, it becomes the focus. Let God’s light shine upon you and let it be the focus of your heart and mind! As a star shines radiantly against the dark night sky, so will the Lord’s presence also be for you and for me!
A dark, painful memory flooded by the Light ends up being a beautiful story! Don’t give up hope! God is doing great and beautiful things here and now!

Psalm 40:1-3
I waited patiently for the LORD;
he turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand.
3 He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear the LORD
and put their trust in him.

I really do love having a tidy home. Nothing beats the feeling of coming into the house after grocery shopping, or just being gone all day, and everything being in its place. There is something peaceful about it. As much as I love things to be tidy, it doesn’t always stay that way. Having two young children can make that unattainable at times, but as much as I love a tidy home, I also enjoy a clean home, and just because I strive to keep my home tidy, doesn’t make it clean. I have come to realize my love for tidiness, at times, hinders me from cleaning like I should. I want everything looking orderly and when I clean, it often looks like a bomb went off in the house. Chairs are moved to another side of the room, rugs are pulled up, and decorations have to be moved so that various surfaces can be dusted, etc…

Tidiness is certainly pleasing to the eye, and if we are not careful, we can be fooled by it. Chairs can be perfectly arranged around a table, but still be surrounded by crumbs. Rugs can be perfectly positioned on the floor, and dirt still be trapped underneath. Items may be perfectly arranged for display on the furniture, but still be surrounded by dust.

Tidiness is good, but cleanliness is what really matters. What good is it anyway if all is tidy amongst filth? In the life of the believer, tidiness may look like a high commitment to church attendance, daily bible reading, surrounding yourself with Christian friends, giving of your time and resources to further the gospel, and the list could continue. All of these things are great, but in our striving to serve and have God honoring aspects in our lives and keeping things “tidy,” if we are not careful, we can begin to overlook the constant cleaning that is still required within our hearts. If you look past the appearance of these things, you will still find crumbs that need to be swept, dust that has accumulated and needs to be wiped away, or cob webs in the corners that need to be knocked down. We all have these areas in our lives. Whatever it may be that God is showing you that needs to be clean, praise God that He has given you the eyes to see these things, and once you see it, make the effort to do what you can to clean it up. It’s not enough for us to just be tidy Christians, God desires to make us clean!
“Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.” Psalm 51:7

Is today the day that God may be saying to you that it’s time to stop praying?…. What a bogus question to ask, right? Or is it? Now, before you write me off for asking something so outlandish, please hear me out. I promise there is good reason for asking a question such as this.
I truly love praying! Cast ALL of my MANY cares upon the Lord??? Umm…. YES, PLEASE! Prayer is a privilege and it allows us to commune with God. He calls us to come to Him with all sorts of prayers and requests at all times of the day! Time and time again, I have gone back and read through my prayer journals and I have enjoyed reading past prayers and then recognize that God has answered so many of them in amazing ways. Even small little prayers that I had forgotten all about! Praying and watching God lovingly respond, is such a blessing and is a major faith builder for me.
But, is there a time when God calls us to stop praying about something? And surprisingly, I believe the answer is YES. If you are familiar at all with the book of Exodus then you already know that this book is all about God’s deliverance. I never get tired of going back and reading this book! How in the world can reading about God splitting the Red Sea so that He could lead His people out of a land of slavery get old? It’s such a faith builder and it helps me keep a true perspective of God as it beautifully puts His power on display.
But as I was reading this week, I stumbled across some verses that had never stood out to me before. Just as the Israelites were nearing the Red Sea, Pharaoh’s army continued moving closer to them. Fear quickly overtook the large crowd of escapees and Moses assures them that on this very day they would see the deliverance of the Lord.
But it’s the verse following this that really grabbed me.
Exodus 14:15 says, “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you still crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on.”
Wow! “Why are you still crying out to me?” This is what the Lord asked Moses as they stood in front of a large body of water with a massive army getting closer to them by the minute. I believe I would have still been crying out to the Lord too!
But what God was saying to Moses here in the middle of an intense, scary, and chaotic moment, is that there is a time when we are to stop praying and to start walking in faith! God had heard the cries of His people and their prayers were being answered with each passing step. They just had to trust the God who was delivering them and allow their faith to be greater than their fear.
So could it be that God is asking us the very same question, “Why are you still crying out to me?” Maybe you have continued to pray about something and as God is answering your prayer, He is calling you out into the unknown and to trust Him.
I think that it’s important to ask ourselves, and to recognize if today is the very day that God is saying it’s time to stop praying and it’s time to start walking!

I gotta be honest and say my heart and mind have been touched with burn out and discouragement… I’m just tired… I’m tired of negativity, division, separation and people who easily misunderstand what you say and make false assumptions.

I’m tired of social distancing and wearing masks… Yes, I do wear them where I am supposed to, but I definitely limit the places I go because wearing them is hard for me. I’m tired of this virus, as I am sure everyone is.

I’m tired of horrible conversations about politics and candidates that end up becoming attacks on each other.

There is just a lot that is swarming around and it’s to the point of causing me to feel suffocated. Ashamedly, I think that have complained and vented about these things more than I have prayed over these things. So this morning I stopped and poured my heart out to the Lord. I stopped and stilled myself before the One who is the answer during a chaotic time when it seems as if there are no clear answers and solutions.

As I was watering my flowers this morning, the Lord was continuing to deal with me and stir my heart, reminding me once again of how He is our constant supplier of hope as we live in a world that seems to be falling apart so rapidly.

God brought this truth and reminder to my mind as I looked over at my sunflower that had fallen over. I was so excited about this plant because it had 8 buds that had formed on it and I was looking forward to seeing them in full bloom. Although the plant had fallen over, it was still connected to the ground and so I left it alone in hopes that I would see some of those buds bloom.

My hopes have been fulfilled as I have been able to see two buds open up, but one flower did more than just bloom. Instead of just opening up to share its beauty, the stem began to turn and rise up towards the sun. The large plant it was connected to had fallen, but this little flower decided to bloom and rise again.

We live in days where all is falling and crumbling, but God’s light and truth is still shining brightly upon us. God used the beauty of His creation and as a perfect visual and reminder for me that we too can rise up in His presence and bare fruit despite what may seem to be falling and crumbling around us!

“Love is patient,love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil(N) but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”

How many problems and issues would be dissolved in our marriages, homes, families, churches and communities if we all confronted ourselves with these verses? If we all examined ourselves, not our neighbors, with how we are personally displaying love.

I’m heavily convicted that I, myself, need God to work in me greatly to display a continuous heart of love to those around me, regardless of what others may choose, because I know it honors God, and when we honor God, the blessings are exponential!

1 Corinthians 13: 1-13:

If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

“Stop counting the dead branches” … This is the gentle whisper I received from the Lord today.
Life in Christ is a continual process of God constantly pruning us, but the purpose of Him doing so is not for us to keep count of how many dead, lifeless limbs He’s removed. Any good gardener who gives constant care to a tree partakes in the pruning process, but he does so to make the tree beautiful by constantly removing what is detrimental to its’ health and to allow for new, healthy growth. He doesn’t leave the pile of dead branches at the base of the tree as a memorial but rather he removes them to never be seen again. And guess what? God is our good and gracious gardener! He is removing what’s dead in our lives in order to make us more like Him!
This is a great act of God’s love and grace displayed in our lives! Jesus’ sacrifice is our covering and therefore God remembers our sin no more! As we embrace His act of constant pruning in our lives, we need to remember that He isn’t leaving the dead branches at our feet to keep count of them… He, instead, is removing them from sight and is casting them as far as the east is from the west. So stop counting the dead branches… God Himself remembers them no more!

The loud, sudden, sobbing cry of, “Mommy it hurts! My leg hurts!” abruptly woke me from my very deep sleep. My daughter is prone to waking up in the middle of the night with leg cramps and she was experiencing another one. So off we go to the kitchen for some medicine and then a quick leg rub to help ease her discomfort. Every time she is awoken by that horrible pain, she knows exactly where to go for help. She always knows where she can find mom and dad.  Even in the dark of night, she knows the path to our room because she travels it so often.

Although having to get up in the middle of the night is the pits, there is some beauty in knowing that my daughter knows in her greatest pains where she can run to. She doesn’t sit and suffer in her bed all night fighting through the pain alone. She know where she can find help AND she seeks it.  She knows that she can always wake me up if she needs me. She doesn’t fear being in trouble for waking her parents in her great time of need.

even in the darkness of the night, we must know the path to travel

Pain, unfortunately, is a part of life here on Earth. Sometimes we experience physical pain, emotional pain, spiritual pain, or any combination of the three. The way we hurt is different depending on the variances of the cause, but nevertheless, it’s what we do in our pain that counts.

Some times our pain is due to things beyond our control, and sometimes it due to our own sinful choices and turning away from God. But regardless of the reason, I hope that there is a path that has been traveled so often that, even in the darkest of nights, you know where you must go.

God our Father, can bestow peace, comfort, and healing for the pains we experience in life. God offers the comfort of forgiveness to a repentant heart. We just have to run to Him and know that everything we need, we can find there with Him!

• Comfort- 2 Corinthians 1:3-7
• Peace-  Philippians 4:4-7
• Healing- Revelation 21:4, Jeremiah 17:14
• Forgiveness- 1 John 1:9

Unsafe, uncertain, confused, angry, disheartened… these may be a few of the many words that describe how many of my fellow Americans, myself included, are feeling these days. These feelings towards the reality of life as we know it today, does a great job at dominating our minds, leaving us exhausted, only to flood our thoughts with questions like: What do we do? Where do we go? What is the truth? Is there even a solution?

The ‘fight or flight’ feelings definitely come in to play during times like these, and chances are, you’ve experienced both! And I believe the appropriate response during these uncertain times is to do both! We should fight and take flight.

As God has drawn a believer’s heart unto Himself, our fighting has to be done on our knees and when we are afraid, we should run! We should take flight and run fast to our God who never fails and is always our defender!

Psalms 91: 1, 2 says, “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust.”

Just last night, my 9 year old son was explaining to me that when you see LORD in all capital letters that it means covenant (promise) keeper! So as we read verse 2, we are saying, “I will say of my covenant/promise keeper, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust!”

In a time of wondering what is true and who can we trust, we can run to our LORD, our covenant keeper, and know that He is our reliable source of truth. When fear seeks to take over and we long for a place of safety, we can know that our Covenant Keeper is our fortress… our permanent, unmovable wall of defense for those who run to Him and stay there!

When the feeling to fight comes, may we find ourselves falling to our knees with great cries to our defender, who always fights on our behalf; and as we seek to take flight, may we run to our LORD, our covenant keeper, and know that He will always be our constant shield of defense!

“You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.” Isaiah 26:3

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