Seasons of Life

 

Everything in life, runs by seasons.
You have Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall.
We all have our favorite season(s).
And for the seasons that we don’t like…we can’t control them. We can’t make them move faster. We just have to endure them.
Like we endure the weather and can’t change that, we have to endure some of life’s circumstances and trust God. and know that a greater(more favorite, more enjoyable) season, is on its way!

So if your like me, and hate winter…endure it. For Spring is just around the corner. And we get those moments where you wake up, and it looks and smells and even looks like Spring…and even though it may just be a teaser and winter is still there, look at it as a joy and a hope and a glimpse into what God is bringing your way!

So if your not enjoying the season of life you are in right now spiritually, endure it. keep pressing on. keep running the race. For another season is just ahead. We can’t say how long it will be, but God is with you through all of the seasons you go through. Giving you hope in the wintry, cold, dark seasons.

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” Ecclesiastes 3:1

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us…”  Hebrews 12:1

Work

 

”Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.”
Colossians 3:23

This past week has been a really weird week work wise for me. It was quite difficult for me to do a good job at my work and be disciplined and not want to waste time while at work.

I even find that with leadership sometimes too. Some weeks are harder than others, and there are times when I don’t want to lead and don’t want to take the time to do all that is required of me in leadership and my roles.

This past week, has also been a week when ive realized that I dont have a right to ever want to be lazy in the call God has given me and the work He has given me to do. If He has called me to lead, than I need to always lead. In any physical work that I do, I don’t have a right to complain. If its work I don’t know how to do, or a work that is not my favorite, I need to do it with a grateful heart praising God for the ability to learn and the ability to do.

So whatever your work is, whether it is spiritual/kingdom work or earthly/physical work, it is all for the glory to God. and should be done for His glory and the fame of His name.

we are not here for ourselves, or for men, but for God.

what are you setting your mind to?

 

You know those weeks where a certain theme just keeps coming up in your devotions and in everyday life. Well, thats been happening this week.

Monday I was really convicted by a devotion I read by John Piper, about our mind and what we spend our time thinking about. And he used the Scripture, Romans 8:5-6
            “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, set their minds on things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.”

Well, recently, my mind has completely set on my flesh. On what my flesh wants and desires…daydreams have been taking over and I’ve been allowing myself to think impure thoughts, to plan out a future of what I want certain things to like, Ive been dreaming of things that satisfy the lusts of my heart, rather than truly giving them to God and trusting Him but trying to satisfy myself in the waiting period.
How wrong, sinful, and how dirty of me. A holy(set apart) child of God.

I find the verses from Romans so convicting, and so powerful. To set the mind on the flesh is DEATH, and to set the mind on the Spirit is life, and peace.
This fall, for my birthday, I got a new tattoo. It is the word PEACE on my forearm. I love it. It’s a great reminder to pray for God’s peace in my life, in every circumstance and moment. Sadly, sometimes it is hidden and I forget about it. But to know that to think about the things of the Spirit is life and peace…and that by not thinking of things of the flesh and by not satisfying my flesh by thinking of things of the flesh, i can have peace. There will be a peace in my heart and my soul and my life, and my life will be full and that longing that the flesh desires, will be filled with Christ and His peace.

Hebrews 12:3
”Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted."..”

Colossians 3:2
”Set your minds on things above, not on the things that are on the earth.”

 

What are you spending your time thinking about?
Is it glorifying to God?!

my rendition of psalm 23

 

The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not look for any other guide. He makes me rest when my body, mind and soul have been worn down. He leads me to the waters that will not sweep, my tired body away. There He satisfies my thirst and restores what’s been taken by all the cares of the world. He leads me along the paths that are right before His eyes, and that bring glory to His name; where I’m challenged to be more like Him.
Though, I may walk in places of trouble and danger that the devil may be hiding and waiting in, I shall not fear his evil ways. For my God walks in front, behind and beside me. Your discipline, O Lord, Your protection, Your power, they bring me peace.
You place me in front of those may hate and despise me, and then You anoint me. Showing all that I am Yours, sealed, and equipped to fight, with Your Holy Spirit alive in me, and my heart overflows with joy for all the works You have for me.
Surely Your goodness and Your mercy will pursue me for the rest of my life, wherever I go, and I will dwell one day in Your house, O Lord, FOREVER.

Hallelujah

 

sometimes it’s nice poetry to rewrite psalms or certain parts of scripture into your own interpretation. it helps you look deeper into the passage, and make it more relevant.

I used to always overlook Psalm 23, because it was so common, and so quoted. But now that I’m older, and looking back on all these truths and scriptures, I absolutely love this Psalm. I love that the LORD truly is my Shepherd, and how good He is, and how He leads me. I love the idea of a shepherd and his sheep and the relationship there. and I love that that’s the relationship Christ chooses to illustrate our relationship with Him in John. We are His. He is not just going to leave us…He cares for us, and will take care of us. Better care than anyone could ever imagine!

The LORD, God, is my Shepherd.

really?!

 

How legalistic can one become?!

I literally was just reading in John 5, and read this passage…on where Jesus heals a lame man on the sabbath and this is the Pharisee’s response to the man…

”so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, ‘It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed."’” (John 5:10)

As I read that, my thought process was…”really?!?” They were so concerned with keeping the law, that they wouldnt even permit a lame man, who had just been healed, to take up his bed…
Now i realize there is much more to this, for instance, that the Jews hated Jesus…therefore the fact that this lame man was healed on a Sabbath is quite a big deal to them…

But the relevant point I am trying to make…the Jews of Jesus’ time, are modern day legalistics. We all can be legalistic about certain things. I’m not gonna lie, sometimes I wish I could be legalistic about things, and more often than I like, find myself fighting it in my head… but being legalistic about the things I want to be legalistic about would cause much dissension and it wouldn’t allow people to learn from mistakes and it would make people to become just like me…which we really do not want. We want people to become more like Christ.

Jesus is LORD over the Sabbath. Jesus is LORD over the law. May our focus be on JESUS and not on rules, or the law, or how we think something should be happening. Focus your attention on Jesus.

 

“…looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith…”
Hebrews 12:2

Jesus was a modern day celebrity

 

This past weekend I had the privilege to attend The Struggle Tour with 10th Ave North, Audrey Assad, and Rend Collective. And the day after I was reading in Mark 9, and was just struck by how often Jesus attracted crowds…very much like today’s ‘spotlight people'.’

A few things I notice, is that Jesus never turns the crowds away and that He always gives them what they are in need of…truth, encouragment(which also can mean challenges), and HIMSELF!

and that’s exactly what anyone in the spotlight (musicians, speakers, pastors, authors, actors…) are supposed to do. (Especially those who proclaim Jesus as LORD). Is to give the crowds what they need, truth, encouragement and of course, Jesus!

My challenge is to pray for those who are constantly in the spotlight and have people look at them from such a high viewpoint in their minds. Pride can quickly sweep in and take over, and they need to be covered in prayers by anyone who is willing. Because they are attacked, and they always need to be pointing people to The Father, just like Jesus did.

 

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in His love.”
John 15:9-10

Wisdom from James

 

Sometimes, whenever I read the Word of God, and grasp a truth and the depth of what it is saying…I wish the whole body of Christ could grasp it in that moment. I guess this is where Intercession and prayer comes in play. as well as teacher’s and preacher’s.

A group of us girls tonight were reading in James 3, about taming the tongue. and I was just reminded at how much power there is in the tongue. It builds up and it tears down.

“…the tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell…but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poision. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brother’s these things ought not to be so…Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water…”

Our words/tongue carry so much weight…and i cant help but think, how often do we bathe our words in prayers? Do we devote our words to God?! Each morning do we offer our words to God? Do we think before speak, do we pray before we share something with someone? Whether its in deep conversation, surface conversation, confrontation….in everything we say…are we submitting it to God?

Romans 12:1 tells us to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice; our tongue is a part of our body. It is a small part, but like the passage says, ‘sets on the fire the entire course of life.’

Devote your words to God.
I heard a father ask a son today, “did you do anything edifying today?”
and I think that is such a great question to ask ourselves every night before our days end. Did we do anything edifying? Did the words we say edify or tear down someone?

So my challenge to whoever in the world may read this, and my prayer for God’s children, is that we give our tongues over to the power of Christ and not go about our days without thinking or praying about the words we say.