My New Life

It's amazing to me that I haven't written on this wall since my physical birthday. Better yet, I'm finally writing on my spiritual birthday. Today is just too significant a day in my life to NOT write. I can't let it go by without doing something profound, something important, something that will last past the few hours we call November 21st.

Nine years ago I found myself sitting in a little white chapel in Canton, Texas, listening to a man tell the story of his life.......which was also the story of MY life. God arranged this meeting, this moment in time, to change my life forever; to change my destination forever; to give me hope; to give me peace; to give me life. Words cannot express what God did for me that day. All I know is that only GOD knew my inward state and only GOD could do something about it. God loved me enough to do just that.

It amazes me that as fresh as those memories are of that night, that moment when I KNEW I must be born again, I'm still prone to wander; not for long and not very far, but still, my will does not always line up with the God I love. I get distracted, complacent, idol. Yes! In all this busyness of my current state, I find myself idol when it comes to the important stuff. What an embarrassing yet refreshing things to admit.

BUT the winds of change are stirring! I do find myself coming to a new resolve. A resolve to read more, know more, believe more, BE more. I am a debtor and the only thing for me to do in trust and obey. May we each find our strength in the Only One who can help us keep such a resolve as that! May Jesus Christ be praised!

"O to Grace how great a debtor

Daily I'm constrained to be!

Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,

Bind my wandering heart to Thee.

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,

Prone to leave the God I love;

Here's my heart, O take and seal it,

Seal it for Thy courts above."

March 13th - Knowing God at Lake Mary

Every time I make a point of getting away from it all, going for a walk, observing nature, I find fresh ideas, clearer thoughts, deeper waters for my mind to explore. It's in those moments that I truly understand what God means and why He says, "Be still and know that I am God."

In my hurried day, I often find myself not fully embracing what God is clearly saying in this verse. I want to check things off:

1. Be still. - ok, I will, soon.
2. Know that I am God - I do KNOW that He is God.

And therein lies my problem. The KNOWING God only comes from BEING STILL! I am to be still..............and in this stillness, I will know that He is God. Every time I get away, alone, to somewhere quiet, I KNOW that He is God. I know it!

I look at people today and realize why it is so hard for some to come to the Lord. I understand why so many question even God's existence. God gives the revelation, but only under the right conditions. For, you see, we cannot KNOW anything until we have put our focus on the thing/person we are to know. People are distracted from the important stuff by all the material stuff around them. I'm thankful God has His ways of dealing with that!

This afternoon, I went for a long walk, enjoying the clear blue sky and temperate climate of Lake Mary in early Spring. After walking for awhile, listening several times to Casting Crowns sing "O Glorious Day," I found myself at the edge of a little lake and decided to sit for a spell. I took the headphones off, wanting to enjoy the quietness and peacefulness of the moment. Just like every other time, God joined me on the bench, opening my eyes to the beauty all around, whispering words of truth to me. I watched the white ibises balancing on one leg, enjoying the shade of an oak tree. I heard the ducks frolicking in the water on the other side of the dock. And, as clear as a bell, my mind remembered Jesus' timely words in Matthew 6, Behold the fowls of the air.........Consider the lilies of the field..........Therefore take no thought...........But seek ye FIRST the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness. God has set my priorities, and I always like His results!

One more look at the lake before I part. The sun is glistening so brightly off the water I have to turn away, reminding me of the glory of the Lord and how I can't look upon Him now, but one day I will! The rustling of the leaves brings pleasure to my senses, and I remember the Holy Spirit will do the same. This is the FIRST thing I want to do every day, be alone with God. Of course, there are challenges every day, but if I keep my priorities straight, everyone else will reap the reward. So, now, back to the eventful life of husband and boys with a refreshed soul and a desire to return soon to this place of rest.

For the Sake of the Children

It has been a whole year to the day (yesterday) since I started this blog. I look at the sub-heading "Moments to Share. Treasures to Find," and I still feel happy at the thought. Today is a great day to start another year of blogging. God has been working in my heart and mind for several months, and I feel that He is finally getting somewhere! Maybe you know the feeling.

I have spent the today and this evening with Sally Clarkson, a godly woman, mother, wife, with a heart and a message for mothers - your "Mom heart" matters! I love that because that is exactly what God has been teaching me. I am called by God to be a godly mother, and if you have children, you are called to do the same. But what does that mean? What does that look like? How do I get there? Sally said it best tonight, one step at a time.

Long ago I memorized these verses, and I've often come back to them as a guide and even a restarting place for my walk with the Lord. Romans 12:1-2 says, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God." Above anything else, the renewing of (my) mind always stands out to me. If I don't do this early in the morning, before anyone else is up and about, needing my attention, it just doesn't happen. This is the first place I'm going to start....I have to MAKE SURE this happens. It really is up to me, but I also know that if I ask God to help me, He will, because he wants to spend time with me, too! How sweet is that!

Sally talks about how she makes this time special. She plans to MEET with God. She gets up early, prepares a cup of tea, lights a candle, and sits in her favorite spot to read God's word and pray. I like that plan, for reading God's word should not be done as one more thing to check of my list for the day. It should be my most important meeting of the day; and appointment I cannot miss and do not want to miss. I hope you feel the same.

The second passage of scripture that Sally focused on tonight was Deuteronomy 6:1-9. It is a long passage, but I want to write it out for you so if is easy for you to read and mediate on for a few minutes.

Deuteronomy 6:1-9

"Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judments, which the Lord your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it. That thou mightest fear the Lord thy God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son's son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged. Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey. Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates."

As Sally said, "God is not just a thought to be known or a rule to be followed." He is our Father, who loves us, and wants to have a relationship with us. A relationship requires time.

Hebrews 11:6 tells us that without faith it is impossible to please God. If I were to ask you if you wanted to please God, most of you would say YES! Well, according to God's word, faith is the ONLY way to do it. After studying the book of Hebrews and the lives of some of the patriachs of our faith, my husband came up with a good working definition of faith: 1) God speaks, 2) I listen, and 3)I obey completely, no matter what. That's what God is looking for from you and me. Not just for our sake, but for the sake of our children, may the Lord find us faithful in doing what He has already told us to do.

But What Do the Scriptures Say?

I have been overwhelmed lately with how rare it is for Christians to actually know what the Bible says. We know what we 'believe' Christianity to be, what we have heard, or what we think, but what does the Bible actually SAY? We have become illiterate.........wait! Not illiterate, for we do know HOW to read! If we were illiterate we could have an excuse. But we are without excuse! For we can read, but choose not to. What a shame.

Of course, there are some Christians that do read the Bible, but even of these, many do not comprehend and apply God's truth. The reading is just another notch in their totem poles to 'God'. Just like totem poles of old, the totem poles of these Christians have nothing to do with God, or should I say, He has nothing to do with them! The scriptures do teach us that the Holy Spirit will teach us all things, so why do so many 'Christians' not understand and practice what they read? After all, the scriptures also tell us that if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (II Corinthians 5:17) I'll leave that for you to consider and figure out.

Please don't think I am ranting to tell you or anyone else off. This ranting is for me. For you see, as I have been forced to see other people's lack of real knowledge of God's Word, I have also come to find that many of these same so called 'Christians', when presented with the truth of God's Word, do not care! And, as if this is not enough to leave my mouth gapping, my mind spinning, and my heart aching, God reveals and even more disturbing truth.......I'm carving out a similar boat to float my life in. What does Paul say? "For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I." (Romans 7:15)

I want to be like Christ, but a lot is going to have to change in me before progress can be made. I've been thinking the answer is faith, and yes, real faith (obeying God's word no matter what) is vital, but God's word says there is something even greater than faith! I recently set out to memorize I Corinthians 13:4-5. If you have been a Christian for awhile, you know right away that this is the 'love chapter.' Below is a portion of this chapter that has been on my heart and mind. This kind of love will fix a lot of what ails us. I want to love like this and with God's transforming power, I will:

Love is patient,
Love is kind
And is not jealous;
Love does not brag
And is not arrogant,
Does not act unbecomingly;
It does not seek its own,
Is not provoked,
Does not take into account a wrong suffered,
Does not rejoice in unrighteousness,
But rejoices with the truth;
Bears all things,
Believes all things,
Hopes all things,
Endures all things.
Love never fails......
But now faith, hope, love abide these three;
But the greatest of these is love.
(NASB)