The Keeper

"Be strong & of good courage, do not fear or be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you." ~Deut 31:6~

When we begin to receive our promised blessing from God, it should be the most exciting time of our life, right? Then why do we sometimes feel fear & anxiety? Probably because of all we faced in our past.

When we have known times of great loss, it scars us. Sometimes those scars make a tough surface for hope to grow & emerge through. We fear the new blessing because we fear the pain that will come if we loose it again. We would suffocate if we ever had to bear that again. . .

But my God is not a malicious God, but rather a God who loves completely & gives good to His people. And He loves you. He felt every moment of that heartache you suffered thru, He suffered with you. But now He is doing a new work. He wants to replace those scars with the greatest blessing you have ever known. Let Him . . .

Embrace this awesome gift & don't fear loss of it. You can trust The Giver & you can trust Him to be The Keeper.

Closer Than You Think

"He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul . . . " ~Ps 23:2-3~

He knows exactly what I need & when I need it most. He sees me when he enemy whirls something toward me that knocks the breath out of me. He can feel the overwhelming discouragement shadow over me as I scramble to catch my breath & regain my balance. He holds up His hand between me & the enemy & draws me beside the still water so I can regain my perspective. He presses my heart to rest in His sweet presence. He touches my wounds with His healing hand. And into His hand I can release whatever burdens me. There He reminds me of His promised future for me & that something good must be close since the enemy is attacking me so. . . Something good, closer than you think. With that encouragement, I can rise with renewed strength& excitement for what is just around the corner, vowing to trust my hopes rather than my fears. Those hopes are closer than you think.

You Always Had a Plan

"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not evil, to give you a future and a hope"
~Jer 29:11~

As I settle into bed tonight, I have the most peaceful feeling as I draw my Saturday to a close. It's now 2:00am & technically already Your holy worship day. My heart overflows with gratitude for a long weekend off work, time with my kids, ballgames & birthday parties. I'm thankful for the busy week, the priviledge to pray for others. A thousand things flow thru my mind as pure blessings from Your hand, but 1 stands out most tonight.

You have moved on me to go thru pictures from the past- 36 years of my lifetime, plus my 6 babies' worth. . . NOT a little task. I have every picture that exists from my childhood. Only a limited supply survived my parents divorce & multiple moves, water damage, etc. It's been such a daunting task, I've struggled to follow in obedience. I have to admit I was a little chicken to face emotions that could be connected with pictures from my own divorce, too. It's been quite a process to divide them all into years, weed out the bad, & treasure the good. But You have been so faithful to walk me thru, strengthening me to let go of those past memories that will never be a part of my future again. It's been grate! So liberating to throw away that which brings no joy.

And I'm very amazed at the finished product. Good memories to smile & share. And one message stands clear in the middle of it: You always had a plan. . . . Always. I was never drifting aimlessly thru all I faced. You had it in the blueprints. You were always building something beautiful with the tapestry of my life. . . Those things stitched together the threads that bind me closer to You, & prepare me for Your promised future for me.

Nothing

"For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord"
~Rom 8:38-39~

The above verse is from yesterday's song.

"The word of God is living & powerful. . ." (Heb 4:12) and because it is living, He continualy shows us new things within the scriptures.

Yesterday, He showed me something new in this verse.
There is no "thing present" that can separate me from Him. Nothing that is already present within me- my failures, my past sins, my weak spots, my insecurities & imperfections- none of these can separate me from Him. He loves me endlessly thru them all.

"Nor things to come. . . ." My promised future. I don't have to live in constant fear of what may come. God will never leave to face it alone.

Together, He & I, forever.

It's So Good to Belong

"But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim ths praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light"
~1 Pet 2:9~

When the enemy tells you that nobody loves you, prove him wrong. Remember who you are in Christ Jesus- you are a beloved child of The Most High God.

I've probably shared this with you on older posts, but it's worth repeating. Read the words of this song by Katherine Scott based on Romans 8:38-39 . . .

I Belong

Not angels, nor demons
No power on earth or heaven
No distance or danger
No trouble now or ever
Nothing can take me from Your great love
Forever this truth remains

I belong, I belong to You
I belong, I belong to You
I belong, I belong. . .to . . .You

Not hardship, nor hunger
No pain or depth of sorrow
Not weakness or failure
No broken dream or promise
Nothing can take me from Your great love
Forever this truth remains

I belong, I belong to You
I belong, I belong to You
I belong. . .to . . .You ~

So-long Skeletons!

"And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure" ~1 John 3:3~

I heard a song today that said: "We weren't made for regret." That is a powerful thought. So many people sit miserable in sin because satan has convinced them they are shameful creations. Christians backslide & can't find the strength to rise above regret to seek forgiveness. The enemy of our souls wants us to feel unworthy of redemption. And worse yet, he wants us to believe we can never be restored.

These are lies. . . Nothing could be further from the truth. God wants us forgiven so much, He sent His son to die for it. He wants us restored so much, He wrote 66 books of the Bible overflowing with stories of His divine restoration to fallen humans just like you & me. God wanted our failures forgotten so badly, He cast them into the sea of forgetfulness, as far as the east is from the west. HE EXPECTS YOU TO DO THE SAME!

He knew you would struggle to battle the devil and forgive yourself, so He filled the Bible with promises & scripture to defeat him. Use them-read them, pray them, speak them with the absolute authority of Jesus Christ to make satan flee from you.

Don't let the enemy hold you in bondage anymore. It's so much easier to let God take control- of your past & your present. So . . . Happy Closet Cleaning! So-long Skeletons!

Pillow Talk

"In the multitude of my anxieties within me, Your comforts delight my soul" ~ Ps 94:19 ~

There is nothing like pillow talk with God. Sometimes it's at night when I lay down to sleep. Sometimes it's in the wee hours of morning as the sun rises & I hit the snooze button 1 more time. Sometimes it's in the middle of the day when I steal away for 5 minutes alone, in the bathroom, on lunch break, or to my bedroom for just a few quiet moments to pour my heart out to Jesus. In those moments, I imagine His lap as my pillow. Regardless of the details, pilow talk is priceless.

It's those times He relieves my anxieties. It's there that He quiets my spirit. He harnesses my emotions, opens my eyes to His truth against the enemy's exagerations. It is here that He becomes my best friend.

He reminds me that human companionship is a God-given gift, but that it never takes the place of His relationship with me. Even with the best intentions, as humans we will fail each other by mistake sometimes. But He never will. Only He can know exactly what I feel, & without judgement. Nobody cares as much about what I'm facing as Jesus. Only He has the power to change it, or to pick me up, dust me off, pat me on the back, & strengthen me to face it one more time. Only God can do all that. All in one 5 minute session of pillow talk.

Carry Your Water Pitcher

And He sent out two of His disciples and said to them, "Go into the city, & a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him. Where he goes in, say to the master of the house, 'The Teacher says: Where is the guest room in which I may eat the passover with my disciples?' Then he will show you a large upper room, furnished & prepared; there make ready for us" ~Mark 14:13-15~

I wonder what was on the mind of the man carrying that water pitcher as he left home that morning? Did he feel the annointed presence of God's spirit leading him to this divine appointment? Had he felt God grooming & preparing him for months, maybe years? Had he obeyed God's prompting to make ready the guest room day after day when it made absolutely no sense to anybody else. Maybe this man's family had listened to him speak of a promise, watched him wait every day for God to fulfill it with the presence of Jesus in the flesh, standing in his home. Wow. He was chosen to host one of the most famous dinner parties in all of history: The Last Supper.

I'm sure this man sensed this was important, but I doubt he knew the full scale of his obedience, nor his role in the much bigger picture of God's master plan.

You & I have been asked to carry a pitcher of water today. He has scheduled divine appointments for us. He wants us so close to Him everyday that we don't miss them. He has asked us to keep our guest room prepared, that special place reserved for the appearance of His miracle! We do have a key role in His master plan. Step out in faith to accept your calling. RSVP today- be God's honored guest. EXPECT A MIRACLE

Time Returned to You

"So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten. . . You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, & praise the name of the Lord your God, Who has dealt wonderously with you; & My people shall never be put to shame. . . Then you shall know that I am in the midst. . ." ~Joel 2:25-27~

God has a way of bringing things full circle. I heard a testimony from a lady on Christian radio yesterday as I drove home from the grocery store. She said we all have gone thru events that we date our life by. We think of life pre- that event, and life post- that event. . . .because it changed us, challenged everything we believed & held dear.

But we have a promise from God to restore to us all those years the locusts devoured. He is turning back the hands of time. . . Just for you. Only now, we arrive with knowledge from the challenge & faith stronger from the journey, more to offer every area of our life.

Let Him turn back time for you. Don't be afraid of the blessed open door ahead. . .

"Just as courage is faith in good, so discouragement is faith in evil, and while courage opens the door to good, discouragement opens it to evil" ~Hannah Whitall Smith~

Hello world!

"For behold I create new heavens & a new earth; & the former shall not be remembered or come to mind. But be glad & rejoice forever in what I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing, and her people a joy. . . The voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her, nor the voice of crying. " ~Is 65:17-19~

Are you stuck in the shadow of the past? Walk out into the sunshine! God is creating something new just for you. The former you, the former things that haunt you shall be remembered no more. Be glad & rejoice! Its a forever thing, and God wants YOU to have this. You've weeped long enough. Time to step out into the light & say: "Hello world, look what God can do!"