What No Outside Source Can Do

….you perceive my thoughts from afar….(Psalm 139:2)

Sickness tends to lead us towards constant reflection doesn’t it? We have much more time to be still, to sit and thank, to ponder and reflect.

Over these past few days, as my little family has been dealing with sickness due to the coronavirus the Lord has been bringing me to a constant need for surrender.

Many of us, myself included, have tried to find security in something outside of God. Some sort of medication or vaccine- we pray, will give us the hope that we need to beat this virus, but doesn’t that kind of thinking somehow put us in control? I have found, at least for me, some of these things that are given to us by outside sources do offer hope, but they cannot be where our hope is found. Especially in times like these.

So today, in the midst of a Covid sick household, I’m laying down my worries and any anxieties or fear I have that the enemy wants to plug in my mind. Especially when it comes to my child. Truly, these past few days are teaching me the power of surrender as a parent. This is our daughter’s first real sickness and although her symptoms are fairly mild, as a mom, my heart and mind is being pulled in many directions. Yet, the story that I must tell myself is that there is rest in the Lord for me today and for my child. After all, although I can certainly rejoice in the medical field, I cannot place my hope in what any outside source can do, but in the one who is my complete and total healer- the Lord Jesus Christ.

Father, I won’t worry about tomorrow. I won’t place my hope in outside things. Today I will choose, to rest in you. Each day I want to do that now for your glory, in Jesus name, Amen.

So You Want To Be Something Great For God?

The power of the LORD came upon Elijah….(1 Kings 18:46)

Many of us, myself included, want to accomplish great things for the cause of the LORD. We want Jesus to be the banner our lives wave and we want, with everything we have, to run with great strength the race marked out before us. We want Christ and His Kingdom not just to be something we talk about, but something that we do and help others experience first hand.

Friend, if you want to be effective in the Kingdom take heed of the life of Elijah.

1. Make yourself available to God
2. Be willing to take risks
3. Trust that God will provide
4. When you do doubt, keep running back to God

I know you’ve got something in your life that requires great faith, maybe your step towards accomplishing something great for God starts with being faithful in something small. Inviting your friend to church, tithing more, turning off the TV, or telling someone that you’re sorry.

We all love the idea of being someone great, but what if instead, we simply chose to be great to others. Maybe, accomplishing something great in the Kingdom starts with seeing people, cherishing them, loving them by helping restore their dignity. Maybe, Kingdom work is more simple than we think. So go ahead, take the risk and be more kind, go and ask for forgiveness, change jobs and decrease your income to do what God has put in your heart to do and watch Him provide.

Friend, I get it, doubt and fear creep in, but keep running back to Jesus. He’ll help you along each step as you walk by faith before Him. Don’t give way to fear, but keep believing beyond all doubt that the Lord is faithful and will see you through.

Lord, I want to be faithful. The enemy loves to fill me with doubt, but I know better. Let your voice be the only one that I recognize, I pray, in Jesus name, Amen.

Do This or Things You Love Will Suffer

How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity….(Psalm 133:1)

I have encountered a number of families recently who are struggling.

Friend, can I be honest. I’ve been there. I’ve almost called it quits on my marriage. I’ve dealt with deep, terrible losses and pain too among those I care for and love.

The enemy loves to mess with unity, doesn’t he? Truth be told, I wrestle with that often in my heart and mind. Thoughts of division towards my spouse, friends or other loved ones get thrown in and my heart gets catapulted further and further away from that person.

I want to say something to you, because maybe it’s what I need to hear as well- do everything you can in your life to preserve unity in the body of Christ. Without it, all of us will crumble under the weight of division. More marriages will fail, more people will be lost to addiction and more and more people will carry more pain in their life than they do joy.

So today I’m choosing to believe good things and when a thought gets thrown into my head that would only further divide me from someone, I’m going to choose to move towards them instead.

Lord, we are so broken. We need your life in us. Forgive us when we allow thoughts to divide us from our loved ones and make us more like you, we pray, in Jesus name, Amen.

Are Your Children Proud of You?

….parents are the pride of their children…(Proverbs 17:6)

The other day I had the privilege of speaking to my mom’s group on social media. In one part of the presentation I spent some time discussing our own online image. Because, some day, if not now, our children are going to be scrolling through our news feeds and they are either going to be proud or deeply embarrassed by our behavior and the things that we post.

That really makes me sit up straight as a mom. To think that some day, every word I’ve said, written or picture I’ve posted will one day be seen by my child.

My simple prayer is that she’ll see Jesus in me by what I post. But just the thought of her scrolling through my page makes me want to post with great integrity and kindness. Because someday, when she has a social media of her own she’ll have learned by watching me how to conduct herself online.

So my simple challenge to you today is, what about you? Does what you post reflect something in you that is good, honorable, praiseworthy and true or could it be something that perpetuates immaturity in how your children post someday?

I know, if you’re a parent, you want more than anything for your children to say they are proud of you and are delighted that you are their parents and so friend- act that way. Yes, make your children proud by being a noble citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven and post with true kindness and integrity, so that His reflection is so strongly evident in you that they pick it up and carry it further in their lives as well.

Lord, you are so good. We praise you for all our days. Father, let my online image be one that reflects truth, love, transparency and integrity, in Jesus name, Amen.

Stop Waiting For Redemption….Live in It

and with him is full redemption….(Psalm 130:7)

For quite some time I used to really get stuck on the hurt I had experienced from people. I’d let it spin around endlessly in my heart and mind. I felt as though it just wasn’t fair and it wouldn’t really be OK until I saw something similar happen in their lives. Some sort of downfall or consequences for their actions.

Isn’t that terrible?

I have now learned the beauty of beholding the one who is my redemption. I really believe that’s what we have to do. We can’t wait for God to do what we believe is the redemption that we need. We simply must see Him as our ever present hope, joy and redemption in each moment for each day. Once I started living in my redemption instead of waiting for it, something changed. I started to have compassion for those who had hurt me and I was able to let it go.

Sure, do I hope some day they might still apologize and seek some sort of forgiveness or reconciliation; absolutely. But even if they never do, I can live fully and freely in the person of Jesus for my life. Not pridefully or in vain, but in peace, prosperity and hope.

And you can’t as well. If you would simply live in the one who is your redemption.

Lord, you are so good. Why would I ever doubt your love. Truly, there is no one like you and I can live fully alive now in your redemption and there is joy and freedom there, in Jesus name, Amen.

You Need This

Praise be to the LORD, who has given rest to his people…..(1 Kings 8:54)

I love doing, going and running at a fast pace. Becoming a mother who spends the majority of her time at home with a little one has absolutely slowed me down. My days are filled with a routine that sometimes feels monotonous, but I know all of it is serving a great purpose, because I’m building into something through these simple, basic and restful routines.

Something that we prioritize in the life of our family is making sure our daughter gets plenty of rest so we’re always home on time for naps and bedtime. Everyone is happier when she has her rest, because my husband and I get to rest well too because of it.

Friend, have you ever thought that the other people in your family and those closest to you would benefit greatly from you getting some rest? Rest with God. Yes, true, joyful and purpose rest with Him. As our soul learns to delight not in busyness, but in stillness, through maybe what feels like a monotonous routine, we can learn the power and value of a heart that is at rest with it’s maker. Truly, hearts that are always wanting, always running after the next big something just create more chaos for themselves and those around them.

We must prioritize rest with God if we’re going to make it in this life. At least, if we want to have true, lasting joy in this life. That’s what I want, dear friend, and that’s the kind of love that I want to share with others. So, lets go and rest today with God as we accept all that He has for us, in the place we are in, and delight greatly in it.

Lord, you are my place of rest; my hiding place. Be that for me each day, I pray, in Jesus name, Amen.

Do You See Him?

Has not my hand made all things?…..(Acts 7:50)

Friend, I want to encourage you today, as I am reminding my own self, to see God at work. After all, He owns everything. The earth, the skies and the heavens all proclaim Him. Truly, life is all about finding Him in each day, instead of becoming bogged down by whatever we are facing.

There is a place of rest He has for us. A place where we can sit still with Him and find ourselves in the lap of His love and mercy. Friend, it’s not something we have to go searching for like hidden treasure. It’s something we receive now as we look up and believe what is true of Him. That He is good, kind, loving, faithful and true.

Lord, you made all things. Truly, there is so much good to experience and see in this day. May my heart be satisfied in who you are for me today, I pray, in Jesus name, Amen.

The Power of Waiting

Unless the LORD builds the house, its laborers labor in vain….(Psalm 127:1)

Friend, I want to simply encourage you to wait on God.

In different seasons, especially in those younger years of following Jesus I spent far too much time running ahead of God instead of waiting on Him to do something for me. As you can imagine, my unwillingness to sit still and wait with the Father left me in a heap of trouble most of the time. Things would go OK at first, but they would quickly come crashing down and I was left with the humiliation that came with it.

Truth be told though, I needed to be humbled. I needed to fail so that I would stop trying so hard to be the LORD of my own life.

Since then, I have learned and embraced the power of waiting on God in my life. I’m just finished with running ahead of Him. Now that I have learned the beauty of waiting on Him I’ve seen God do marvelous things in my life. I’ve seen Him take something completely unexpected and beautiful and place it right before me.

Friend, He can do the same for you. All you have to do is submit to His will and timing. He will lead you. It will be hard at first. Especially when your buttons of fear get pressed, but I want to encourage you to sit still and wait patiently in the pain. God will do a good things dear friend as you learn to wait on Him.

Lord, you always come through. Your works are truly wonderful. I love to watch you provide. It is always so beautiful. Come through for me now as I wait on you, in Jesus name, Amen.

You’ll Never Regret This

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!…Phil 4:4

Recently my husband and I made a decision to move back to where we were from to be closer to family. Although my husband was born in Chile and raised in Florida he spent most of his adult life in the area we now live.

Friend, I want to say something to you that God is teaching me.

You will never, ever, make a wrong decision when you prioritize your loved ones.

This journey God has taken me on the past few years has been immensely humbling, but through it all, God was preparing me for one of my greatest callings in life- becoming a mother.

Can I be really honest? As much as I love that title, more than any other title I’ve ever held, sometimes I have a difficult time being content with simply that. I often feel the need to be accomplishing something more, simply because, for so many years, I found my identity in the things I did, not in really loving the ones I served.

There was an excitement about leading “something great.” Now God is teaching me that there is even greater joy and purpose, with very few thank you’s by investing in someone.

Truth be told, as I continue to shepherd teens and others in my life, something I will always do as a Christian with or without a title, God is teaching me that a smaller shepherd’s field is sometimes good.

Too many of us, myself included have ran frantically looking for the next big thing, now God is teaching me that life is about choosing to be present in each moment as a blessing to those that surround us. Life, in all reality, is not about me.

I was contemplating this simple thought yesterday, that when and if God would ever grant me some church title again, what people are asking of any minister isn’t, “Does my pastor or minister. love God? I really believe what they’re asking first is, does my pastor or minister love me?” Truly, if we learn the ultimate value of being a shepherd, we find that our love for people flows out of our love for God. Then, those whom we shepherd will give us more than some of their attention. They’ll give us their hearts and trust. And that my friend grows the Kingdom.

Lord, I long to be like you. To love like you have loved. To care for people like you have cared for people. Thank you for the gift of being a mother. My greatest calling in life. May I be satisfied truly, forever, in you and may that love flow out to other people, in Jesus name, Amen.

A Better Yes is Coming

Therefore, it was necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time….(Acts 1:21)

Wait your turn.

That has been a reoccurring theme in my life the past few years. Truth be told, I was used to constantly getting picked and then that stopped. I started getting rejected a lot. This really starts to hit at unhealthy parts of my identity that if I’m being honest, the Lord is still shaping.

Now I’m learning the value of waiting with God for the right fit. Friend, that’s not always fun to do, because sometimes we have to get a few no’s from God before we get the final yes.

So wherever you find yourself today, be reminded to wait your turn and let God do the choosing for you. I’ve certainly ran ahead of Him in life on many occasions and that’s gotten me nowhere. Waiting on God, walking with Him in true surrender, accepting rejection, not as a failure, but as an opportunity to receive something better from God has grown me and I know it can do the very same for you.

Lord, you always know what’s best. Thank you for growing us through life. We thank you for no’s because you simply have a better yes for us. We receive today what we need from you, in Jesus name, Amen.