Bringing God Joy and A Lesson From My Boy

I have always felt being a parent gives me a considerable advantage to understanding God's heart. My understanding increases as I think on the similarities of my feelings and His. This week of vacation held several parallels, but the one that stands out is our bike trip yesterday...

My husband Dale has been planning for this adventure for several months. If his computer is open, there is a tab that says, "Craig's List". Our baby boy Ethan {I know he loves that title} turned 20 this month. We wanted to give him and his friend a trip to Florida. Dale has been working for nearly four months on having all we needed at a good price. Cheap. :) 

He brought our two bikes down in December anticipating me joining him several times during his time in the South, but he wanted the boys to have bikes, and found a pair on Craig's List. Very basic bikes, not like our mountain bikes. At all. 

After a 40 minute drive to the trail head, we unloaded our bikes and were tooling around the truck before heading onto the trail. In his amuse-me boyish manner, Ethan said, "Look Mom, Dad got me a freestyle bike!" To model this, he jumped up with both wheels airborne, and upon landing, his rear wheel instantly disfigured. 

Similar to this photo... 

My immediate mom-response was, "take my bike, I will go find something to do in town." {Gainesville has a plethora of shops!}. Never in a million years would I have thought to try to straighten the wheel, nor did I think he would be able to do it. But that is what he did. Honestly. He somehow "untwisted" it and we proceeded to navigate our way through the mountain-bike trail. Every time we hit a large root, I anticipated his "weak" wheel collapsing. But it never did. Eight miles of bumps, twists, ruts and roots and the bike made it all the way.

How can I express the "wonder" I held in my heart at how enterprising my boy was? {And all the moms are with me on that, I know!} Seeing both of the boys navigate the single-track trail on inferior bikes made a lasting impression on me. They were NOT mountain bikes. They were like the bikes I learned on 'eons' ago and would never have attempted to ride in the meadow much less the mountain. {Not that there are mountains in Florida, but when you are biking up an incline, it feels like a mountain .} 

On our way back home, I was thanking God for this miracle of being able to participate in this adventure, and that I have a son who is not deterred by a mangled bike tire . 

And I got yet another glimpse of His love for our acts prompted by faith. The "press on" attitude and creativity that we use gives Him pleasure. Don't you love that?

Afterward photo...My amusing boy on the left...his amusing friend on the right.  

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Hebrews 11:6

We can know that God takes pleasure in us when we take steps of faith in our adventure with Him, and not let a "twisted wheel" deter or determine the ground we take. 

What Is More Important?

I am quite certain that God loves seeing His children loving on, and enjoying one another, yielding their rights in order to keep peace and unity...being considerate...being compassionate.

Can two walk together, unless they are agreed? Amos 3:3

 

How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity! Psalm 133:1

Jesus prayed for His followers in John 17 just before He went to the cross that we would be one as He and the Father are One.
 
I don't know if you are seeing what I am seeing in our "Christian world" where ideas clash like waves on the Lake Superior shore. Where people defend their rights instead of giving up something in order to not offend a brother or sister in the Lord. Where self~righteous name~calling seems the popular thing to do when someone is offended by another's choices or by a loving rebuke. "Judgememtal" and "Legalistic" are thrown around like one serving a tennis ball...people seem unbending, unyielding...
 
Where is the love of Jesus in His followers? Where is our willingness to lay down our lives for the brethren? Where is our self~denial? Where is our humility? Where is our desire for HIM when we are unwilling to submit to one another out of reverence for Him?
 
Let's read and spread the message of Romans 14 and 15. Particularly Romans 15:2-5:
 
Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: "The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me."For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Father, if it grieves me, it must grieve you more that people love things and ideas more than You and one another. Please help us to honor You by submitting to one another and walking in unity. Forgive us for our self-protective ways. Help us to be willing to lay down. To once again climb up on the altar and Romans 12:1,2 for YOU!
In Jesus' Name~Amen.

Gripped by Love

2 Corinthians 5:14a
For the love of Christ constraineth us. KJV
For Christ's love compells us. NIV
For the love of Christ controlls us. NASB

My Utmost for His Highest available on StudyLight.org: "Paul says he is gripped by the love of God, that is why he acts as he does. Men may call him mad or sober, but he does not care; there is only one thing he is living for, and that is to persuade men of the judgment seat of God, and of the love of Christ. This abandon to the love of Christ is the one thing that bears fruit in the life, and it will always leave the impression of the holiness and of the power of God, never of our personal holiness."

The Love of God...who can understand or fathom it? And yet, as we walk with Him, and talk with Him...we progressively experience more, see more, and understand more.The nearer we get to Jesus, the more clear He becomes.

Greater becomes the grip of the love of God on our hearts.

If by the Spirit, we put to death the misdeeds of the body, we will live...The Spirit is the love of God.

To be gripped by His love means everything else ceases. We will cease striving, cease looking at our life to see if we measure up to anything. Our life will be lost in His love. It will cease to exist. It wont be work to offer our bodies as living sacrifices and deny ourselves (Romans 12:1,2); instead it will be our delight, a response to His compelling love.

I have found His love most compelling in His forgiveness. Every time I fall flat on my face, every time I struggle with guilt or condemnation...I make my way back to the cross and see there His passion to restore me, to give me grace, to pick me back up, lift up my head...

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God. Matthew 5:3

Knowing that I am pitiful without Him, and yet He has given me His exceedingly great mercy, I am compelled by His love. Some things have to come with time...the longer I journey with Him here, the more I understand my need for Him, and the more I am gripped by His love.

Big Blessings at WOF St Paul, MN 2009

Two days ago, I received an invitation via facebook from a customer I met in my
shop to go to Women of Faith. There was an extra ticket. I have not been able to go to the confrence since the year before I opened my shop (2003) since it always comes to our area in the fall and fall is usually my busy season.

As you would guess, the shop has slowed along with the economy over the past year. I have made adjustments in my inventory purchases, and advertising budget, etc. The Lord is graciously keeping things moving in a way that I can continue. I am grateful for that...and having a slower economy has a few plusses...like having the freedom to go to the confrence!

Kayla was able to work in the shop for me, so I joined Wendy and her daycare provider, Jen. I only know Wendy from her times in the shop, and I had never met Jen, so I was excited to spend time making new girlfriends!

I have to say that Friday night's highlight for me was...not a woman, but Steven Curtis Chapman!! With his beautiful testimony of God carrying them through their loss, he brought tears to my eyes with his songs...Cinderella, and the new one about Heaven... It will bless your heart.

Saturday morning, I picked up Jen, since she is on my way to Wendy's. When we arrived, we found out Wendy's baby was running a fever, and she wasn't going. So Jen and I set out on our own. As usual, God was up to merging the lives of His girls...it was delightful to get to know her.

God had two other blessings for me today. My neice entered Teen Challenge back in May. She is only allowed a few visitors on Saturday between 11-2pm. I have only been able to get away from the shop one day to visit. So imagine bumping in to her today. I was three rows down from the main level of the arena, and during break, went up to get a coffee...at the top of the steps, my heart leapt as I saw her! I called her name, and we hugged big!! What a wonderful, joyful surprise. To think that in an arena of over 12,000 women, I would see her there! ONLY GOD!!

Besides all the inspiration of the day with Nicole C. Mullen and her dancers, the WOF worship team, Sheila Walsh, Lisa Harper, Lisa Welchel, and Rita Renfroe, and Marilyn Meberg...I was able to see one of my all time favorites, Susie Larson at the local radio station booth. What a gracious woman of God. She looked up and recognized me (from facebook!) and ran out to embrace me! We chatted a bit about life, I shared a story about a friend of mine...she grabbed my hands and prayed with me for her. Check out her blog and get one of her books! Her heart if full of wisdom; you will feast on rich spiritual meat. My favorite so far is "The Uncommon Woman".

Woah God. He wowz me!

What is Love?

Love. We sing about it, we talk about it, we dream about it, we use the word daily in many ways regarding anything we have affection for..."I love coffee, chocolate, my dog, those shoes, that movie, etc.

Love has the power to make our hearts flutter and dance as well as hurt and shrivel...When I fell in love with my husband, it was fluttering, when I lost my brother it was shriveling.

But what is Love, really?

DC Talk sings, "Love is a Verb"
Aretha Franklin sings, "What's Love got to do with it?"
The Beatles sing, "Love is all you Need".
Third Day sings, "Love Heals Your Heart".
The Jonas Brothers sing, "Love is on It's Way".
Pat Benetar sings, "Love is a Battlefield".
John Paul Young sings, "Love is in the Air".
Joan Jett sings, "Love hurts".
J Geils band sings, "Love Stinks".

No doubt, love is a necessity of life. It has been said that babies often die in orphanages if they have no one to love them. I have heard of people dying of a broken heart, such as after losing a spouse...

It is something we are infatuated with. But what does it look like REALLY?

The dictionary says:
love  noun, verb, loved, lov⋅ing.
–noun
1.a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person.
2.a feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child, or friend.
4.a person toward whom love is felt; beloved person; sweetheart.

verb (used with object)
15.to have love or affection for: All her pupils love her.
16.to have a profoundly tender, passionate affection for (another person).
17.to have a strong liking for; take great pleasure in: to love music.
18.to need or require; benefit greatly from: Plants love sunlight.
19.to embrace and kiss (someone), as a lover.

The Bible says:
1 Corinthians 13:
4Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant,
5does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered,
6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;
7bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8Love never fails;

In John 14:
15If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
21He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him."

And in John 15:13 : Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.

A synonym for love is:
af⋅fec⋅tion  /əˈfɛkʃən/
1. fond attachment, devotion, or love: the affection of a parent for a child.

4. the act of affecting; act of influencing or acting upon.
5. the state of being affected.

Obviously Love is not something that can be simply defined. Love is complex and has many facets. The Bible says God is Love. We cannot contain, nor understand Him entirely this side of heaven, as He is so vast. It stands to reason then, that we cannot contain, nor understand Love this side of heaven either. It is something we must grow to know...by experience and study. In the act and experience of loving and being loved, we come to know what it is...

Though I have learned alot about love from being a child, a daughter, a sister, a wife, a mother, a friend and a mentor, I still, and will always have limited ability to express what it is.

It is said that we cannot express love unless we have experienced it. When I look at the definition of "affection", I see that it is influential. Our love expressed toward one another affects, influences, and has a ripple effect. It multiplies! If we love our children, they in turn will be loving, and will express love to their sphere of influence and it goes out from there.

God is love. We are called to be like Him, to know Him, to love Him with all our heart, and to love one another. Hence this quest for greater understanding and knowledge of "What is love?"

I will continue to explore this topic, would you please help me? Share your thoughts and insights here, or link to one of your posts about love, we can learn from one another.

Lost in a Sea of Faces?

Sometimes my life, it seems so trivial...

Ever struggle with insignificance? Ever feel like if you don't accomplish great things in the eyes of people or of God, that you are worthless? Do you, like me, tend to think of your value based on your accomplishments or recognition?

The message of the Love of God is actually the opposite. Our significance is not in anything we do, but in what Jesus did. His gift of body and blood in exchange for our freedom is where our significance is found. Our worth is in His heart. In the value that God placed on redeeming us, and setting us free from hell.

I have had a very difficult time receiving the Love of Jesus at times. Let's just say there was an "eclipse" of reception in my heart from the conclusions I had drawn from my life experiences. Experiences that told me I am only loveable if I am pleasing.





Being the oldest child of 12, I had alot of responsibility. I loved it because it gave me worth. But I also depended on my performance and the approval I received for my worth. Therefore if I ever failed, I was A FAILURE in my mind. Worthless. Trash.





So how do I get past the lies I have believed for so long? By transforming my thinking based on the Truth from God's word. By taking my thoughts captive. By holding them in the Light. Some days it is moment by moment. Especially if I fail. Or make a fool of myself. When confronted. When challenged. When accused. Everytime I have to come to the table in this video, and receive His passionate love for me. And learn to abide in it. To receive it moment by moment. To draw from the well the only source that can quench the thirst I have for significance.

No, I'm not just a (wo)man that is lost in a crowd. I am His, created for His purpose, for His pleasure. Jesus said, if you want to be great in God's kingdom, you must be a servant of all. That is opposite of our thinking. A servant is something anyone can be. No popularity or accolades required.

Lord, help me to fulfill the purpose you created me for. I love you back! Amen.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Well...here it is. The one. After 30 some photos taken by self-timer on a home-made quad-pod (stacking together three 4 legged stools) This is the one.

Our photo experiences from year to year are maybe the most memorable part of the advent season...sad, I know...I am the last minute planner who is always behind on my own Christmas plans. The men in our home are the goofiest guys when it comes to picture taking. I used to think it was "fun with the photographer" but this year I learned differently......"DO SHARE", you are thinking...well, okay. A small sampling...

In his ever-expressive dramatic way...Ethan "smoking" my battery-operated candle with Dale holding his favorite CARS character. Then there is Dale...nearly never a normal face on the guy...he was born to laugh! Which makes life interesting here for this more serious gal.

So again I say, MERRY CHRISTMAS!! from our house to yours!

Luke 2
The Birth of Jesus In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Is it not profound that the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, the Glorious, Majestic, Magnificent, Holy God was born to us in a barn? Then the angels appeared to the "riff-raff" of society first, the humble shepherds... That tells me something. He came as the most lowly to make the way for the most lowly to be holy. OOOH AAAH

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ[a] the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."
So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Be amazed by grace!

God's love

The subject of God's love is one that could fill pages upon pages and still only scratch the surface of it's reality.

I have struggled to grasp His love for me at times. In fact at one time, the reality of it was totally eclipsed from my perspective. Of course His love never fails, that is why I say "my perspective". I was blind to Love's reality for me. I knew in my head, but my heart doubted. I was looking at me and my unworthiness and failure instead of Him and His truth.

That is a tactic of the enemy. I fell for it through a series of circumstances-hook, line and sinker.

The love of God had carried me through alot since my conversion in 1989...moving, financial hardship, my 6 week old baby having surgery, the separation of my parents for a few months, my husband without work, moving again, being homeless (living in a friend's basement), changing churches, rejection by friends and family at times. After 10 years of living in His love, of reveling in Him, suddenly...

I was tripped by old lies, and a wrong focus. Circumstances mounted around me and within me, and I fell from grace. When I was in the deep-deep dark, I couldn't grasp that God loved me there. I believed I had committed the unpardonable sin. I had death breathing down my neck...except for a thread... the precious promises for me in God's word. Faintly heard, but believed enough by me to keep me afloat in my faith so that it wasn't ultimately shipwrecked.

There was the essence of the love of God. The tangible proof that He had indeed not left or forsaken me. I was tormented by the enemy, but the promises of God sustained me and brought me through. When it was shouted at me, "You have no faith!!!" The word of God stood in my heart saying, "if we are faithless, He will remain faithful for He cannot disown Himself." 2 Tim 2:13

When I was taunted, "Your kids are going to be wounded deeply because you are a failure as a mom!" the word of God ministered to me..."He will restore what the locusts have eaten."
Joel 2:25

Can anyone understand how much I love Him after such merciful deliverance? Has anyone been so humbled by His love as an unbelieving believer-redeemed? How could He forgive me for being faithless? I was (in my mind at least) the greatest disappointment to Him that ever crawled on the face of the earth. And still...His love embraced me.

Agape.

...to know the love that passes knowledge-

• this love that causes one to throw all else to the wind...
• this love that compels one to do things that seem foolish to those who don't understand...
• this love that died on a cross to redeem us from the curse...

this love...

that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (Eph 3:19)

• this love that enables one to endure torturous things...
• this love that compels one to suffer anything rather than lose it...
• this love that arrests one's soul to the point of willingness to die...

Amazing love, how can it be? He died to save a wretch like me...

I am on a quest for more, I want to know the length, the height, the breadth, and the depth. I say, "Show me your glory, Lord! I want to know you more!"