Got Thanks?

Thanksgiving, it's the big family event this time of year in the United States. Thanksgiving was established in our Puritan roots, Pilgrims fleeing religious persecution to establish Christ's Kingdom in the new world gave thanks to God for all His blessings in the midst of terrible hardship.  Many pilgrims died in merciless trials and difficulties while pioneering the new land. Typically, many Americans associate Thanksgiving solely with deciding which traditional dishes will be prepared, who will prepare them and, of course, what time the turkey will be served!!  This is followed by various pies, desserts, coffee and endless football games where people try to meet the challenge of staying awake (some don't try at all) with a tummy full of turkey and specialty foods.

I ask myself, was there something the Pilgrims knew that we don't?  Within the grimness, sparsity and difficulty of their circumstances - they were thankful.   Modern day Americans may ponder, how could this be? We don't seem to know how to be thankful much.  Oh, I hear people say they are thankful for God, family and other good things, but the same people turn around in the next breath and pour out a stream of such bitter anger and negative condemnation on their fellow man, circumstances and anything else in their path that all traces of thankfulness evaporate in the face of it.   I know this well - I've been the one doing it at times! However, I believe that what the Pilgrims knew is being revealed all over again at a whole new level to a new generation of the beloved - Pilgrims establishing Christ's Kingdom in a whole new way world wide.  We have the opportunity to see circumstances, people and all things through the eyes of thankfulness.  Why?  Because we have an overcoming God!!!  This is not to say that things are not heartbreaking - they are!  But just as things are heartbreakingly broken, painful, ugly and evil - God is so great, joyful, loving, glorious, clean and perfect and He makes all things new - we are His!!!!  Really getting the reality of this (not just in our heads, but down in our hearts) is the important secret to always having the ability to remain thankful.  This world is full of harsh realities, but the beloved have a reality far greater. He is the reason for thankfulness in the very midst of hard circumstances. 

Thankfully, got Thanks!

Overcoming Life



Life on a Rock along the Ernie Maxwell Scenic Trail

Check it out - life on a rock. Came round a corner with my family hiking one day and there it was.  So much said right there. This little succulent planted defiantly, living life, beautifully undaunted - on a rock.  The sparsity, dryness, heat, lack of soil - none of that touched the green life and lovliness of this little gem. Seems prophetic to me.

Been having dreams the last couple of months about catestrophic world changing happenings.  Today, I happened to wake at 1:30AM and knew it was time to get up, journal and pray.  My valley/region was the topic of a dream/vision.  I'd seen a dry, Death Valley landscape with people crawling looking for water - this was looking for water in a spiritual sense.  All around this dry, hot, waterless valley were extravagant billboards that just seemed to mock the dying people amongst them.  These billboards displayed pictures of ice cold water, lemonade, tea and fruit juices in glass pitchers and glasses that looked so refreshing. Not a drop was available live to the people though. Then, I heard the words -

"Rains – rains – rains – reigns – He reigns – His reign!!  Flooding of fresh rivers in this valley coming – reviving, revitalizing, bringing life".

Thankful all Life is in Him and He is in me and I in Him too.

A BIG Piece of the Puzzle!

My mind is overflowing with amazing teaching lately!  Just when I sit to ponder, I begin to unravel it and it leads to even more "Ah HA!" amazing moments. 

It's the "Mind of Christ" - seems He is breaking it out everywhere lately in a huge way!  So, doing, doing, doing - this is the way so much of the church has been taught that they bring change to a hungry world that needs Jesus.  Actually, it's a lie - doing is not the end all be all to all in Christ.  Doing may be a wonderful by-product - but it is not actual "Life in Christ".  Life in Christ is intimate communion with Him that leads to everything in your life being lived through the lense of His eyes.  It's a mind set and lifestyle.  Those things can never be things you just do - they are what you are.

So, how does that look?  In the bible, God talks about how He will write His law upon the hearts of men and women and they will no longer teach each other to know the Lord - they shall all know Him.  This is in both Jeremiah and repeated again in Hebrews.

After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."—Jeremiah 31:33–34 

This is what is happening with those seeking to know God Himself.  They are finding Him.  He is placing His law in their inward parts, written in their hearts so that they are His people - it's an outflow of knowing Him - not having to be taught or teach. 

What an amazing time to be alive in the Earth and to KNOW God!  So thankful - praying relationship with Him just spreads and grows! Amen.

Story Writers

Are you a story writer? Oh, I don't mean someone who writes down stories for publication or even someone good at telling stories, though people who have those talents may also have this type of "story writing" going on.  Though it can be positive, this kind of "story writing" can also be a real problem that I and people like me run into all the time. While I can't speak for everyone, I'm fairly sure most people have dealt with their own "story writing" issues at some time or other.

You ever send someone an e-mail or leave a phone message and don't hear back from them for awhile and the first thought that comes to your head is, "Did I do something or say something that offended them?"  Then, more time goes by and you write up in your mind a whole scenario of how they must be angry with you or are certainly unhappy with you over something? Or, you meet up with someone, have a discussion, walk away and think, "Man, I blew that!  They must think I'm a complete idiot". And the tape of it plays over and over and over and over in your mind? Or, worse yet - you go through a humiliating situation with someone and say in your head, "Well, I'll never be able to have a good relationship with that person again". And, you write off any possibilities.  That's the kind of story writing I'm talking about, where you - with little or flimsy information - write a whole negative story out in your head and pretty much operate from it as the truth.  The stories we write may have no or some teeny shred of fact, but are typically so blown out of proportion or grossly flawed that they completely discount reality or better yet the real potential for amazingly over the top good things to happen.

I'm well acquainted with this.  All of the above and more have occupied my mind at times.  But, I'm discovering I don't have to listen to stories like these anymore or be a party to writing them in my mind.  I have new stories to write with the mind of Christ.  The new stories are much better - they are on the basis of what Jesus says.  I love His stories because they are soo good and most of all - they are true.

So now - I'm choosing, every time I hear a negative story start up, to say, "What do you say about it Jesus?".  Then, I listen for His answer.  I have scriptures that sometimes jump out, but I also hear His words at times in my mind or receive His peace like a soft blanket wrapped round me.  For instance, when I have not had a response from someone for some time and I start to hear the negative story begin - now I ask Jesus.  He says He has not given me a spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.  I really rest in that (seeing Jesus' smile over me) and have joy and compassion towards myself and the person.  Then the story is always full of mercy and love and believing the best.  And, it's ended up that people I thought I had lost relationship with due to difficult circumstances - when I listen to Jesus - relationship is actually not only restored, but improved to better than before!  That's just so Jesus!  He's always more than too good to be true - He is Good and He is Truth and He's writing the story of my life!  With Him in it, it's only ever the best!

Worship

Dancing with abandon - that always reminds me of worship. The word "abandon" - that's a great word to focus on when worshipping God.  That's letting go of self and giving all to Him and not caring about anything else!  Doesn't He deserve our very best?  I mean, He paid every price so that we could be one with Him.  We can't get the magnitude of it - God actually wants to be one with us!  STOP - really really sit there with that a moment.  Beyond what He did to accomplish that, that one thing is the most amazing thought I'll ever have. I can't quite wrap my brain around it - completely unfathomable.  The love He has for us - words really show their limitations here.  He won't love us better when we manage to be better.  He won't ever stop loving us even if we never decide to come to Him.  Nothing we do or do not do will ever change His love, for us.  We can't earn it, can't deserve it - but He gives it without measure because that's just the way He is. THAT is immense.  He loves completely - no ifs, ands or buts about it.  There's no catch, no con, no fine print, no strings, no holds barred. His love is absolute, total, actual, all out, assured, categorical, certain, clear, complete, decisive, definite, downright, entire, explicit, final, flat out, full, genuine, indubitable, open, out-and-out, outright, plenary, positive, straight out, thorough, throughgoing, unconstrained, unequivocal, unlimited, unmistakable, unmitigated, unqualified, unquestionable, unreserved, unrestricted, utter, whole, wide - it's authentically Him.  I just fall down and cry my eyes out about that.  I want all that back to Him - only I know I'm not there in giving it.  He knows, it never fazes Him or His love. He's bringing His beloved into loving Him with His love.  We are becoming and yet already are.  He makes us able in Him and Him in us.   Only God can properly love God.  To be honored to be in the midst,  it's just unspeakably amazing.  Worship - adoring God in and from God - that's spirit and truth.  It's so much more than dancing or singing - it's BEING - solely for Him. 

Learning that, I'll never get tired of it.

Prayer

So, yes, prayer - communicating/relationship with God - listening, talking, being with Him - a commitment, mindset, lifestyle.

Big question is always - Is there a right way to do it?

Good motives - to connect with God and align with His will and in obedience to Him. Poor motives - to look spiritual or selfish/mean intent.

At the core of it - prayer (communicating with God) is part of our relationship with Him and develops more powerfully, deeply and intimately with our frequent engagement. Good relationships don't just happen - they are developed through spending lots of time together, open, wholehearted, talking from the heart and attentive listening and doing things together and for one another, in all sorts of seasons, circumstances and moods (through thick and thin). God told us to pray without ceasing - how astounding that the almighty creator of all things wants to engage personally with us all the time (sometimes we forget the immensity of that).

We are growing up into all things in Christ and the Holy Spirit is helping us to know God better in that process. Knowing God's will and praying in line with it is how we pray effectively in power fulfilling Kingdom
purposes. We don't know God's will perfectly yet, but God tells us how we can be able to in Romans 12:2 - "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will."

Did you know we can bless God's heart?  We can!  The bible says, "Without faith it is impossible to please God".  So, that means, the only thing that pleases Him is trusting Him and coming to Him. It's interesting, when you study the word of God and then walk out the truth of it's promises in your every day circumstances (in faith) - you get to know the truth experientially and it blesses God's heart.  Last year, we treated my daughter-in-law (Ayako) to a Kayak tour of La Jolla Cove (just the girls) for her birthday.  I and my two daughters (Crystal and Taylor) met her at the cove and we set off to enjoy the tour.  The day was a bit windy and the cove was very choppy.  I took my car keys with me in a zip baggie, stuffed inside a deep jacket pocket.  Crystal and Ayako made it out past the breakers.  Taylor and I had more of a struggle.  Taylor went over once.  I went over twice and on the second time I noticed - KEYS GONE!  (My oldest daughter Crystal loves to remind me that she told me to put them in a locker). So, I'm an hour plus from my house where another set sits. My hubby is working far away (oh and we don't do cell phones).  Crystal and Ayako are in the cove in kayaks - no way to get their cars on the road to get the keys at home. Hmmm...doesn't look good. So, what do I do? Ok, nice guy from our kayak rental offers to swim out and try to find em. Very kind. Thankful for him. At that point I take one look at that huge cove and the one guy swimming and say, "Ok God - I'm your child - you know where my keys are and you can get them back to me" "You God have every means at your disposal" "Lord, when you told Peter to go catch a fish and the first one he would catch would have a coin in it's mouth to pay the taxes - Jesus, I know you can do that or something like it to get my keys to me". "I'm trusting you that you will bring them to me before it is time to leave for home today because you love me and you told me to trust you and ask you when I need help - so I'm trusting you now". Now, at that point, I did not stop looking for my keys.  And, I repeated the same words over and over. I thought perhaps God would wash my keys back into shore - so I strolled along the beach in the waves back and forth for about 10 minutes. I felt very sorry for the guy who offered to help search as there was no where to even start looking, so, I thanked him and asked him to stop and not worry about it anymore. Meanwhile, my youngest daughter, Taylor, comes back in. She'd gotten out with Ayako and Crystal, but had a terrible splitting headache come over her (she gets motion sickness fairly easily) so came back to shore. As she came in, she said to me, "Hey, mom, Ayako's got your keys". I said, "WHAT?!" She said, "Yeah, Ayako wanted me to let you know that she's got your keys and not to worry about them". I asked her how. She didn't know. I was praising God as Taylor and I walk back to the rental store and wait for Crystal and Ayako to finish their tour of the cove. When they came in, my daughter-in-law unzipped her pant leg pocket and handed me my keys, still in their flattened plastic bag. I asked her how she got them. She told me that once they had gotten way out there, the guide had them stop and was showing them some of the fish and various things under the water. Someone out there swimming came up to them and held up my keys and asked if they belonged to any of them. My daughter in law recognized my company key chain and said, "Hey those belong to my mom". Talking to God - believing Him and His promises - blessed Him and blessed me! Love to experience the power of God in circumstances.

Aslan is on the move - see Him everywhere!

Perfect in Weakness

Corinthians 12:9

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

Today, while I was in quiet, God reminded me that his power is made perfect in my weakness.  Sometimes I struggle with letting go.  But, I see that when I submit I walk with him in victory.  I cannot take over and have any victory at all.  He specifically shows power through my weakness.  I can do nothing in and of myself, I am wholeley and completely reliant upon God.  He's helping me to learn how glad I can be of that.  I will be resented, rejected and reviled.  I can actually be glad in that.  Those are moments to rest in the sureness of His power. 

I was not sure how walking in this season of my life would be.  It seemed very painful at first, but, I'm seeing Christ so much clearer now and seeing where He's pointing me.  That's exciting.  Looking forward to more of that.  He's so worthy and I'm thankful to grow in knowing Him here.  It's so counterintuitive to the world's thinking.  Somehow - that's what makes it even more reassuring.  So interesting - the things I think with my old mind set are always wrong.  The mind of Christ - Wow, there are no words.