My Quiet With You

"For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel:
“In returning and rest you shall be saved;
In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.”
~Is 30:15~

Lord I have been privileged to witness Your greatest blessings and Your hand at work this last week. Even in the midst of busy schedules & tired bodies, we can smile with peace in our heart to know Your faithfulness. God, let me reserve the early morning hours for You, before the world steals my time & focus. Let me seek You first every day, inviting You to be my companion for the day. Let me teach my kids of You as the start the day before busy schedules take Your place. Thank You for health & freedom to enjoy these days raising my family & to work hard to support them. Let me soak up every joy of loving them & loving You.

I love You Lord, I love You.

Rags to Riches

1 Corinthians 2:9 NKJV

But as it is written:
“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

Have you ever witnessed God picking someone up & changing their rags into riches? I did today. I watched God silence tornado warning & give sunshine. Nothing is so sweet & rewarding to see God redeem a life & repurpose it. And its just our blessing to be a part of it. Praise His wonderful name!!!!

Be Diligent in Peace

"Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation-…"
~II Pet 3:14-15~

This week, I want to share some things from the Extaordinary Women's Conference we attended this weekend. The theme was Powerful Peace. I "stumbled" on this verse this morning. It reminds me that my only peace wil come from diligence to His plan for my life. He says "Diligent to be found in peace". I am to persue peace with a passion. God intends His children to be at peace throughout our lives- peace to let Him lead. He knows there is peace in obedience to His commandments because the result is us, standing blameless before a Holy God. He expects us to seek a peaceful life. . ."If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men." ~Rom 12:18~. He also expects us to seek balance & order for our lives. Too busy is sometimes just too busy. We need proper rest so we are alert to His Spirit every day. He wants us able to enjoy our lives, not just run from activity to activity checking off our to-do-list.

Below are some of the quotes from the women's conference this weekend . . .

"God's nature is peace. Thats is who He is, He can be no other way" (So, when we spend daily time with Him, we can't help but take on His peace)

"Women of peace are more rested, they lay down & sleep without problem. They think more clearly. A woman who remains in constant relationship with God IS a woman of peace."

So today, I urge you to seek peace with God, whatever it takes, find it. Don't give the enemy another day of victory over your life. Don't rob your family & friends of the woman of peaceful encouragement you can be. BE His minister of peace.

Keep Doing Good!

"And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart."
~Gal 6:9~

This verse was in my morning devotion. . .I'm always amazed how timely God's word is! He knows I'm so excited for the blessings this week has brought- completely wow! But He knows I'm tired. Physically tired. And a little mentally tired, too. I love doing good for other people, He knows my heart. His message this morning couldn't have been plainer: "Don't grow weary! Fight off the fatigue! You're so close to a break through! Work out the soreness of aching muscles-Keep doing good! Your season is coming- the season to reap God's good blessings you've sown. Don't lose heart- keep your eye on the prize."

Rest-You Are Bountifully Blessed

"Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee"
~Ps 116:7~

O Lord, You have dealt BOUNTIFULLY with me. You, O God, have answered prayers this week. I could not ask for more perfectly timed blessings. Even though I'm tired, You return me to rest tonight, assuring me I'm on Your watch. I don't have to figure out the world. You already have. You assure me of Your protection, Your promise of blessing. You have seen me, heard my cry. "Rest, now My child, I've got this."

Truly God Is Good

"A Psalm of Asaph. Truly God is good to Israel, To such as are pure in heart."
~Ps 73:1~

God,
I praise Your goodness this morning. I feel honored to see Your handiwork first-hand, up close & personal. You are too good to me, better than I deserve. You have used the blessings of my family to prove trust to me. I'm breathless at how fast You answered the need. You didn't need me to fix everything. You needed me to ASK You to fix it & then trust You to do it. Forgive me, Lord, for the many, many times this all-too-independent girl fails to surrender things into Your care.
I love You, Abba Father.
Your girl,
Kristie

Be Wise

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,
But fools despise wisdom and instruction."
~Prov 1:7~

Sometimes God places difficult people in our life. Some people attract drama. The very sound of their voice on the phone means there is a catastrophy somewhere. Some individuals never grow up. They never mature. Their life is filled with poor decisions. And, if this person is your family member, often the result of their poor decisions affect you. What do you do? How do you help someone that will be back in the same situation 6 months or a year from now?

I'm still learning the answer to these questions myself. But I'll tell you what I've learned so far:

Set healthy boundaries. Pray about what GOD would have you do to help, within reason for what you are ABLE to do. Be firm. Don't be pushed into doing more than you can. Remember your other obligations God has filled your life with. If you exhaust yourself on 1 area, your life & those in it will become off balance. YOU will be the next one in crises.

Encourage self-help. It's tough love to make a person work themselves out of the mess they created. We as Christians, daughters, mothers, nurses, nuturers want to "fix" everything. But the best lessons are experience. If you bail them out, you may be cheating them out of the lesson God had prepared for them. It might cripple them &- render them unable to handle the next difficult circumstance they face. Go for guided help rather than totally assuming the help.

Give it all to God. Labor in prayer over it, for Him to open doors for this person & so order your steps. Ask God to supernaturally bless this person ON YOUR BEHALF. He knows the turmoil of your heart for them. You are not the Savior of the universe. . . .But HE is. Let Him work His wonder.

Just so you know . . .

"Now therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.” And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them."
~Gen 50:21~

I've never thought about this until now-the authors who write devotions, books of encouragement & pen blog spots could not do it without some lousy life experiences. I know we all love to read uplifting words, but we would not understand the power of them without a pit we needed desperately to escape. So, our pits are for everyone around us too. To teach us lessons, sometimes the most difficult lessons, to connect with human spirits everywhere. We all need someone to understand where we are, what we are facing & how we feel. Thank God for the men & women of the Bible that we get to hear their story, see their struggle & see God's deliverance! God always has a plan to spread HIS message of hope & love- 2000 yrs ago & today. Wow.

You are not facing this alone. Many have been through this same fight & found victory in Christ. You will, too.

God takes care of His children. . . Always. Don't be afraid.

Stuck here?

"Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass."
~Ps 37:5~

Have you ever been whipped by the Lord? Let me just tell you, it stings a little while afterward. Have you ever prayed for something so long, only to realize you are hindering your own blessing by your disobedience? Whether it's something God has told you to do or convicted you to stop doing, obedience is the only way to move from where you are now to the next place you're going. It's an agonizing process to accept responsibility for slowing down your own blessing. It's easier to blame others for leading you here. It's sometimes easier to blame God or say it's "just His will" that I'm here & that I've been here so long. But I wana tell you, God is a persistent God.

The children of Israel were freed from slavery in Egypt & God had a divine promised land completely prepared for them. It was only an eleven day's journey away. Yet once they began the journey, they became discouraged, fearful, & ungrateful. They doubted that God would provide, their faith wavered. They even complained about what God did provide. And thus, the delay of their blessing began. An eleven day journey turned into a 40 year wander in the dry desert. It was never supposed to be this way. It was only supposed to take eleven days. . .

God is a persistant Father, determined that we learn the lesson He has put before us to learn. How long it takes is up to us. I've fooled myself in past times, believing God loves me so much & wants to bless me so much, that He will allow a margin of error, overlook some small sins or bad attitudes & give it to me anyway. Sounds like a small child in the grocery store, throwing a tantrum yet begging for candy, huh?

Total surrender, clean hearts & clean minds are a few of the beginning requirements to get moving on our journey. The quicker we wade into those difficult stagnant spots to dissolve them, the quicker we can restore the flow of His blessings into our life. "COMMIT your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass."

Only 1st Place

“You shall have no other gods before Me."
~Ex 20:3~

He is a jealous God. He will not allow anything to take His place in your life. He will not stand for anything or anyone to take your focus off His purpose for your life. He will not tolerate you loving any person more than Him. He must be 1st. Only first place. Anything we won't surrender to Him or move into 2nd priority for Him, we risk losing. God has painfully reminded me of that risk this week. I'm grateful He doesn't let us get too far from His heart & that He gives us the chance to make things right before disaster occurs.

Why so hard?

" Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son."
~Gen 22:9-10~

Why are the greatest acts of obedience so hard? God told Abraham to sacrifice his only son Isaac to Him on the alter. We know this story has a different ending however . . .

"But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!”
So he said, “Here I am.” Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son."
~Gen 22:11&13~

So, if God knew there would be a ram provided for Abraham instead, why did He put him through the torture of this test? Why didn't God just give Abraham the ram in the beginning?

"And He said, 'Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” vs 12

The answer: to test Abraham's love for & obedience to & faith in God. Period. A lesson Abraham could nevear have learned without the preparation of sacrifice.

Often in my life, I see the clear answer before my eyes & fail to understand the purpose of waiting to receive it. I don't see why God asks me to chose the difficult path when an easy one would get me there faster. I fear choosing the hard road, because I have no control here, only God does. I'm afraid if I lose site of my blessing, it may be lost forever. But, my answers are the same as Abraham's, there are lessons I can only learn in preparation for the sacrifice. One day my ram will appear in the bush, and I will know God is pleased with my sacrifice & that He has provided for me. My blessing was never lost, it was in His hand the whole time.

"And Abraham called the name of the place, The-Lord-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”  Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son— blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”
~Gen 22:14-18~

Carefull Consideration

"But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak. But when you thus sin against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ."
~1Corinth 8:9&12~
"But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified."
~1Corinth 9:27~

It's so hard sometimes to walk as straight as we should before others. Watching every thought, word, deed & action so that there is no wicked way within us is a full time job. God calls us to have the mind of Christ Jesus, putting on His love & mercy & grace fresh every morning. That is the only way we can succeed. We do not have the strength within ourselves to accomplish this feat alone. We have such an enormous responsibility to others, to our children, not to make them stumble, to be strong in the faith, not to be a spot or blemmish on our church, the body of Christ.

Help me, Lord Jesus to make You proud, to make You real before others. Forgive me for every time I've failed You. Give me Your eyes. Give me Your mind. Give me Your heart.

Gathered By The Redeemer

“Sing, O barren, You who have not borne! Break forth into singing, and cry aloud, You who have not labored with child! For more are the children of the desolate Than the children of the married woman,” says the Lord.
"Enlarge the place of your tent,
And let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings;
Do not spare;
Lengthen your cords,
And strengthen your stakes.
 For you shall expand to the right and to the left,
And your descendants will inherit the nations,
And make the desolate cities inhabited.
Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed;
Neither be disgraced, for you will not be put to shame;
For you will forget the shame of your youth,
And will not remember the reproach of your widowhood anymore.
For your Maker is your husband,
The Lord of hosts is His name;
And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel;
He is called the God of the whole earth.
For the Lord has called you
Like a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit,
Like a youthful wife when you were refused,
Says your God.
For a mere moment I have forsaken you,
But with great mercies I will gather you."
~Is 54:1-7~

Whatever things have brought you pain or shame in the past, it will only last a season. Your Redeemer has heard your prayers, & with great mercy He will gather you. Keep g-iving yourself, do not spare! Keep extending your cords and strengthening the stakes of your tent. God has promised good for you.

What if? . . .

"Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment.  They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented— of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us."
~Heb 12:36-40~

What if God called you to believe in something you would never see in your life time? What if the promises He asked you to cling to & hope in & fight for all the days of your life, would only be for the next generation? Could you still love, and hope, & dream and believe? That's exactly what many men & women of faith before us did. They stood their ground against the enemy & mankind alike to obtain a perfect testimony through faith. . . Faith in something they would never see this side of heaven. All for a testimony for you & me to follow. All so that their children, and their children's children could reap the harvest of their seed of faith. Can you imagine how much determination it took to overcome questions of doubt, fear of failure, humilliation of mockery for believing when it made no sense in the physical realm to believe? Yet they persevered. Their heart for God & vision beyond what human eyes could see launched them on a path for eternity.

What if God asks us to do the same? What if the things we are promised are for our children? Can we still love HIM and worship Him with all our hearts, with all our strength, with all our might? He will strengthen us to answer "Yes, Lord, here am I, send me".

Stay

"But you, be strong and do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded!”
~II Chron 15:7~

When I woke up this morning, I only had 1 word on my heart-"stay". And this verse was in my devotion book. Last night was a little restless for me. I got up 4 times to check on a sick child. And I dreamed the entire night, random things that that the Lord hasn't revealed anything special about so far. I think it was the result of a trying week & weekend, my mind just hadn't unwound. If I've ever witnessed" God in control", I did last week. I've shared with you how God has been pushing me to a deeply trust with Him. I experienced the peace & power that deeper trust brings last week. I watched the devil try to get his foot into a pastor's life, into the church's future, into a relationship & into my future, all simultaneously! Yet, in the center of it all, I "just knew" everything would be ok. I knew, not because of the power of my positive thinking, but because of the power of His profound promises. There were still tense moments, some tears, & even the normal questions your mind asks when you face adversity. Yet, under it all, there was just calm. Knowing the will of God & standing on it, even when it makes no sense to human eyes, will always win. Jesus was victorious last week, in all areas. So, when you face something & you don't know where to be . . . Just stay. Stay in the center of God's will. It's the safest, most sure place on earth.

". . .Priceless"

". . .Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms."
~James 5:13~

After you've been through a tough season of life, you really appreciate cheerfulness. You learn the value of a smile-someone else's AND your own! You see the wealth in positive attitudes. You find a new appreciation for encouraging gestures. Good friendships / relationships take a higher level of priority in your life. Laughter becomes a your favorite treasure. And the ability to get out of bed every morning with cheer & excitement in your heart, just to enjoy the day, just to enjoy your life, thankful for ALL God's blessings. . .priceless.