It's Okay Now

It was a sweet lady who told me the story. I was sitting in my miniature chair and she started talking about faith. She said that if you have faith the size of a mustard seed (that’s small) you could say to a mountain to move from one place to the other and it would be moved.  My imagination was running!  Seriously?! I was ready…! Soon after, while on a family road trip to the MOUNTAINS… I tried my hand at it.  Fail. Every single mountain I told to move, remained exactly in the same place. Confusing.  I suppose up to this point in life I’ve still wondered why the Bible would have such a statement when it doesn’t seem to be a common occurrence and I know I’m certainly not the only one that has tried.

It may be embarrassing to say, but I think 20 years later, I finally get it.  Recently, I was reading in Matthew 21 and I saw the scripture about movable mountains, and the dawn began to break.  Here’s how it goes…

Jesus was with his disciples and apparently he was hungry, but the fig tree wasn’t producing fruit.  So, what did Jesus do?  Exactly, what you’d expect… (sort of)… He said “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the tree withered.  The disciples were confused…

Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. - Matthew 21:21

There it was again!  Only this time I think I understood.  The fig tree, I think, represents small problems… The mountains represent big problems.  I’m not sure about you but my life has been full of both small problems and big problems… Both in need of a miracle.  Today I am asking God to speak to a big problem. I am asking Him to move a mountain.

As a sidenote, I don’t think there is actually a way to judge how big or small miracles are.  When we need a miracle, it always feels big. But thankfully our God is big enough and he is in the business of every day miracles… Forgiveness, Reconciliation, Love, Grace, Hope, Faith, Joy… All miracles.  All mountains.

So, today Lord, we ask you to move the mountains in our lives and in the lives of the ones we love. We ask you to be bigger than circumstances and then fear. We ask you to to throw the mountains into the sea.  Amen.

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Do you ever feel like you’re drowning? Like somehow while the world around you is basking in the beauty of a perfectly sunny day, you’re simply trying to find your way to the surface of the pool of water you seem to be suffocated in?  Like somehow fog, hail, rain and wind have joined forces and you are trapped underneath them all?  Thoughts scrambled, fears elevated, blood pressure heightened, faith shaking while you stare through the fog hoping it will end.  With your mind running in a million directions – you gasp for breath.

You and I may be quite alike.  As I sit here tapping on my keyboard, I am thinking of situations in life where there seems to be no answer, no firm resolve, just more questions.  The other day I was in such a moment. My mind was spinning and fearful “what if” thoughts were my company.  It was as though fear were my companion and his arms were draped around my shoulders daring me to dispute his convincing arguments.   Being the domestic goddess that I am after 3 months of marital bliss,  I was cleaning.  So, I put down my dusting rag and sat on my bedroom floor, looked to the heavens and begged God to make my mind stop.  Quietly as I sat there, I found myself asking to know what is True.  Slowly God began to give me some direction… and I’m finding what He is showing me to be an incredibly liberating act of spiritual warfare.  Because all good steps come in three, I do believe there are (at least) three steps that I am finding to be very effective in keeping the lateral noise (fear due to circumstances in life) from crippling my faith, weakening my joy, and making me walk in fear.

Pursue Confession – Sprinting to the loved one you trust most and confessing the fear, disbelief or obsessive questions seems to quickly disarm the torment.  It’s amazing what can happen the minute the real, God-honest thoughts come to light… They seem a little less true.

Get Out – Declaration is powerful.  A previous colleague of mine told me one time that declaration is different that stating.  When you state something, you’re talking about the natural. When you declare it you’re speaking into the supernatural. Declaration is active. Stating is passive. I’d advise you get out of the storm.  Find something you know is True and declare it.  Declare it like you’d declare your first, middle and last name to the judge.  If fear is your enemy and it’s been knocking on your door— Declare Truth. God is bigger than Fear.  God is bigger than the unknown. Declare it until you believe it. Declare it until it feels like you are looking at the fog, rain, hail and wind beneath you and no longer around you.  Once again, declaring Truth has a way of disarming lies.

Love Being Above – Storms are cyclical. One leaves, another one comes.  We’d all like to believe that we can have perfection on this earth, but it just isn’t going to happen. However, if we can learn to operate and live above the storm, then the joy and hope we will have in this life will exponentially increase.  Once you’ve gotten out you can get above. With the understanding that I may start sounding crazy spiritual I really believe that learning how to look at circumstances, declare Truth and stay above the storm is to stay in the Word.  Love having Godly perspective. Spend time uncovering new Truths from the Bible that you can stand on. Staying in the Word is so important to living a life of victory. And when you love being above the stormy circumstances in life, you’ll put forth the effort and will quickly find it to be effortless.  With an arsenal of God-breathed declarations, it’ll be easier to hold fast to joy and hope as you run to the Bible for solace.

Hebrews 10:23 (NIV)
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.

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Brace yourself because I am about to blast a very, very secret recipe across the world wide web for the first time ever in history. My friend and I created it when we were little… The name?  Friendship Blue.  For obvious reasons: We were friends and it was blue.

RECIPE: Water, sugar (lots of it), mint leaves (from the backyard) and blue food coloring.  Delicious.

We tried our best to only use these special ingredients in each batch of Friendship Blue (wouldn’t want to mess up this killer recipe with unknown variables), but if we had to substitute something, we could make that work as well.  These days Friendship Blue has become a bit too elementary for me. In fact, my formulas have gotten a lot more complicated… in everything.

The Problem with Formulas

Well, they kind of don’t work… and that sucks.  Here’s what I mean:

• Job: You are trained and qualified for a job + the job is a perfect fit = they’ll hire you.  Nope. Not always the case.
• Relationship Formula (one of many): She thinks he’s cute + he thinks she’s cute = they’ll date.  Nope. Not always the case.
• Calling/ Purpose: You feel you are supposed to go into ministry + you are following after God and active in community at church = you’ll begin full-time ministry right away. Nope. Not always the case.

Beyond the Formula

Greater than the ability to work a formula is the ability to look at all of the variables and create something far better.  God works beyond our formulas.  He sees the variables we don’t see. He is the greatest strategist, understanding how each piece effects the other. He understands the story beneath the story.

I’m not sure about you, but I am horrible at knowing “the right time to say the right thing, do the right thing, or be the right kind of person.”  All I can do is live and trust God with the variables.  Because in all honesty, I am usually clueless anyway.

Psalm 20:7-8

⁷ Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.

⁸ They are brought to their knees and fall,
but we rise up and stand firm.Tweet

This video was put together by Francis Chan and others and gives a perspective on how we do Church. It presents questions that are worthy of considering.  It’s a short 5 minute clip.

The Big Red Tractor from Jacob Lewis on Vimeo.Tweet

Peace, Joy, Love and Faith require divine intervention.

I can never love God more than He loves me and I find that every day  I need him more than I did the day before. Relying on His plans rather than controlling my own requires Him… and more than yesterday, I need him today.  I mentioned Isaiah 30 in my last post and since then, I’ve been stuck in that chapter.

“So the Lord must wait for you to come to him so he can show you his love and compassion. For the Lord is a faithful God. Blessed are those who wait for his help.” Isaiah 30:18

Easy to say… but waiting for God when we really don’t know His divine happy ending and if it’s what we really want… well, that requires us to rest in our trust that He really is faithful.

This song has been rocking my world every since the BFF’s hubby told me about it yesterday… Listen and enjoy.  Kim Walker gets me every time…

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What do I believe about God?

I believe in God who loves with more love than we could ever fathom.
I believe in God who redeems hearts and people.
I believe in God who fights for the concerns of the orphan and the slave.
I believe in God who through his Son set all of our hearts free.
I believe in God who offers peace and joy beyond circumstances that warrant it.
I believe in God who interrupts life with blessings.
I believe in God who fights evil and teaches us to stand for Truth.
I believe in God who is just and whose love demands justice.
I believe in God who knows the best outcome for my life, even when I cannot see it, nor understand it.

I believe in a personal God.
My God who speaks to me.
My God who turned my sadness into joy.
My God who set me free from fear and hate.
My God who provided for my needs when all logical thought provided no way out of the pit I was in.
My God who has given me purpose.
My God who has given me hope.
My God that gave me Jesus.
My Jesus that provided for me salvation… salvation from my sin. Salvation from my own worst self.  And my Jesus that provided for me the Holy Spirit.

¹⁴For this reason I kneel before the Father, ¹⁵from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. ¹⁶I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.  – Ephesians 3:14-19

What we believe about God matters. Faith isn’t about what you are believing in but it’s who you believe in…

What do you believe about Jesus?  Who is God to you?

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Remember when President Obama was running for election? Everyone had something to say about it. I remember it well… I was sitting at Paradise Bakery in a back cove working on my laptop, engrossed in a spreadsheet.  Suddenly, out of nowhere this guy was standing in front of me with an Obama pin asking me who I was going to vote for. I was completely caught off-guard.  At that point it wouldn’t have mattered if I was Obama’s Campaign Manager, what mattered was that he was being rude and abrasive.  But, I was sweet and told him “no thank you” to the pin he was offering.  He then pressed on, “Who are you voting for?  Why are you voting for them?  Did you know this? Did you know that?” In my head I’m thinking… “Dude! All I know right now is that you’re in my space and being completely inconsiderate!”

… and then it hit me… abrasive evangelism…

Abrasive Evangelism

For those of you that have grown up in the Church, you know what I mean.  A few well-intentioned, zealous people head out to evangelize on the streets, in the malls, etc.  Many times it’s very proper and well-done, soup is handed out, conversations naturally arise, people are served and befriended, and that’s not what I’m talking about… The Obama guy reminded me more of tactics I’ve seen where people will go up to strangers in malls, restaurants, etc. and want to strike up a conversation… and it’s just out of place. Please understand, I am not making a bold statement telling anyone what to do or what not to do.  God leads many directions, and I am not one to be so arrogant as to say what God will not and will not do, but hear me out.

With my experience with the zealous Obama pusher, I came to understand how it must seem. No matter how amazing the message might be, when presented in an inconsiderate, intrusive way, it makes it very hard for the Message to be heard.

The other evening as I was reading in 1 Peter my heart quieted as I read these words that clarified it for me:

“But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.”

1 Peter 3:15-16

I think that says it well. When Christ is set apart as Lord in your life and living for Him dominates your everything, it will show. It will show everywhere you are because it colors your life… peace, joy and hope cannot be hidden.  When people ask about it or when it comes up in conversation, you will naturally give a reason for the hope that you have – with gentleness and respect. It represents our Message better anyway.

Thoughts on Real Life Evangelism

Sometimes I wonder if the reason people can be abrasive in evangelism is because we feel like somehow we are solely responsible for the salvation of others.  And we feel as if we don’t “evangelize” then one day God and his golden hammer will hit us over the head.

Here’s the deal… I have to believe that when the Bible says, “the Holy Spirit draws all men unto Himself” that means exactly that.  “We are his instruments” which means we are to live a life that exemplifies the presence of God and his mercy for us and for our friends… The opportunity to talk about our Hope naturally should frequent our lives, because it is the Hope that colors our everything. Gentleness and respect are easy when you have set apart Christ as Lord and are allowing His goodness to flow through you.  When the opportunity comes (and it will) you’ll naturally give the reason for the Hope that you have and people will understand and respect it, because it matches what they’ve seen in you.

Those are my thoughts from my untheological mind.

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