Never Cease to Be Amazed

One of the things I love about being a disciple of Christ is that He keeps surprising me. I have been praying for some very specific needs recently, and last week when I saw two of those prayers answered in an stunning way, I found myself in awe of God once again. Too often I think we pray but we don't really have the great expectation that our prayers will be answered, but it's just not true. When our desires are in line with God's desires, He performs miracles that are beyond my expectations, and I stand amazed. I have found myself riding in the car, humming "I Stand Amazed in the Presence" and "I Stand in Awe." I don't know what concerns you today, but I know this: give it to God completely, trust it in His mighty hands, and thank Him that He is already taking care of it. Then wait with great expectation to see His handiwork. And while you wait, be amazed at His handiwork around you every day . . . the beautiful blue sky, the dark storm clouds and refreshing winds of a summer thunderstorm, the night sky full of His glory, and the trustworthy faces of children. Be amazed in the presence of God and His creation. He is an awesome God!

Forgetting His Promises

I am somewhat of a control freak. Anybody else out there know what I'm talking about? I somehow think if I say something enough times, remind my children over and over, and keep my "hand" in a crisis, it's going to work out. My heart wants it to be so, but my experience tells me something different. Any idea that I have control over the hard things in life is a joke. I don't, and you don't either. This morning I was listening to Beth Moore, and said something that struck a nerve with me: if God has already promised us something, we need to get out of His way and let Him do what He is going to do. We need to stop trying to manipulate the situation and let Him work in His way and on His time table. Whoa . . . guilty as charged. I wish I could share the details of one particular situation in my life, but it is deeply personal and involves people other than me. But let me say this: God promised me something a few years ago, and this morning I know I must change my prayers. I must trust that He is doing what He said He would do. I will thank Him that it is done instead of asking one more time for Him to do it. I will continue to love and trust, but I will get out of His way. My manipulation, even though it is for a good end, is not effective. I must take my hands off, trust Him, and then when the prayers are answered, He will get the glory . . . . not me. This is why we study, listen to great sermons, and read His Word: study transforms us into what God desires. It forces us to look at ourselves and allow Him to change us from the inside out. I am grateful for God, my Father, who hasn't given up on changing me into the woman I can be for His glory. I implore you today to look at the places in your life where you are trying desperately to control what only God can manage. Give those places to Him, trust His promises, and let go. Let Him be the God of the impossible. The end result will be amazing, and we will all stand in awe.

Time for a Plan

In 2012 I went on a journey to read through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. Even though I've been in church all my life, I've never accomplished that reading goal, but last year, I did it with the help of YouVersion.com. So today I want to recommend that site to you, if you are not already familiar with it. YouVersion offers many plans for reading, so you don't have to read front to back. In fact, you get to choose not only the plan but the version of the Bible from which you want to read. Today I found new plans that have been posted, and I have started two of them. One is a 12-day study of Ezra, with devotionals from Hillsong Australia. I love the insight from the pastor, and the combination of scriptures is awesome. If you've struggled to be faithful with your Bible reading, this short plan is a great place to start. Of course, I found another one as well! There is a new plan from Billy Graham. It's a year-long plan with daily devotionals, and it can't get much better than Billy Graham! I was really pleased today to find some new plans to give me a fresh perspective on reading. I am already looking forward to tomorrow's readings because starting the day in God's Word changes everything. I encourage you to join the site (it's free!), find a plan that feels manageable, and get started. We will never truly know God, our Father, until we know His Word. Join me in knowing Him more every day! Good luck, and let me know how you're doing. From one student to another, Jean

Friends Are Not Always Friends, and Other Sad Truths

I am mad today, and my normally peace-keeping nature has metamorphosed into my husband, Dan, who has no fear of saying anything. (It feels pretty good, too!) I read something this morning about the star of "Glee" who passed away; it said that he was "out with friends" before he died. The person who posted it on Facebook said this: "Sad that he was out with "friends" before his death. It saddens me that one's "friends" are too often one' enemies." She is right, and this hit way too close to home for me. Our nephew just spent the last year living with us, after spending five long years in prison. He made bad choices, all driven by his need for drugs. He is an addict, and that is his responsibility. No excuses. But during his prison time and the last year of his life, he stayed clean. He worked, he enjoyed family, and he bought a car. But then the worst happened: he moved away to live with a friend, and I use that term sarcastically. This "friend," as it turns out, has had problems with meth. And now? Our nephew's life has fallen apart. I will spare you the horrific details, and I completely understand that he is responsible for his choices. However, a good friend would know that he is an addict and needed to stay away from drugs at all cost. Instead, he has been introduced to a new drug of choice. He is now in jail on a simple charge(not for the drugs), but he is incoherent to the point that a mental evaluation is being ordered. He has been there since Friday evening, and he still can't have a coherent conversation. That's what meth does to a person. It confuses, it destroys, it kills. I called the jail yesterday to see if I could talk with him, thinking that hearing a familiar voice might bring him back, but the drug has left him so out of control that they can't take him to a phone. They told me that I would be ill-advised to try to bring him home to rehab because he might hurt me on the trip. Sad? Yes. Angry? I am furious. I'm furious with him for not loving himself more. But way more than that, I'm furious with his "friend" who claims to love him. I realize that the friend could not stop him from doing what he wanted to do. He is a grown adult. But the "friend" got high with him, and that's not what you do with your friend when you know he is an addict. It opened a door for disaster. Yesterday I talked with his friend, and he wants to get our nephew out of jail. In his words,"But I can't stand the idea of him being in jail. I have to get him." Well, that's when I turned into Dan. Tough love says that you leave him there until he is clear enough not to hurt himself anymore. Tough love says you leave him there where mental health counselors are trying to assist him. Tough love says you leave him there so he is warm, dry and fed after weeks of being homeless with his "friend." Tough love says you don't bail someone out because you feel sorry for him. You make hard decisions that are in a person's best interests, and our nephew needs to stay there where he is safe from himself and can clear his head and until we can formulate a plan for rehab. I am tired and I am angry, and I want our nephew to have a chance at a new life. This "friend" might need to stay clear of me right now. If you have someone in your life who claims to be your friend but is not healthy for you, run in the other direction. You can love that person from afar, but you do not have to stand by and let them destroy you. If your friend suggests things that that are not good for you, he/she is NOT YOUR FRIEND! If your son or daughter has a "friend" that sounds like the one I've talked about, intervene now before it is too late. Moms and dads, if your gut tells you that someone in your child's life is dangerous, listen to your gut! Don't apologize or be kind because you want to be your child's buddy. Intervene mightily and hang on tenaciously. The world, I have sadly learned more than once, is full of "friends" who seek to destroy. What they call "love" is nothing like the love I feel from God and to others because of His love for me. Real love wants the best and always puts the other's welfare first. Anything less is not okay. Today I am praying that my nephew comes out of this. I am praying that his "friend" gets help. I am praying that it won't be too late to save a life; my God is bigger than this and I am counting on His supernatural healing this morning. I am also counting on His strength to administer the tough love needed to save a life. I am standing on the power of the blood of Jesus, and there is not a "friend" in the world who will get in my way because I am clinging to the only friend that really matters: Jesus. Please pray with me that my nephew and others will find the love of God to fill the vacuum in their hearts with a Father's love. It's the only thing that matters.

A Burdened Heart

One of my prayers in the last year has been for God to break my heart for what breaks His. The truth is that there must be a million things in this world that break God's heart, but we can't all do everything. This morning I am searching for what He would have me effect, and I am asking you to be brave enough to pray this prayer with me: God, break my heart for what breaks Yours. Let me see with Your eyes that I would be drawn to do Your will. As Christians, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, grandparents, teachers, and friends, we must live out our days making a difference with the gifts God has given us. WE must use our moments in a way that matters to others. In the words of Beth Moore, "Your destiny is never about you." True. My destiny to be a teacher has fulfilled me in myriad ways, but it has never been about me. My destiny as a mother has and continues to bless my heart, but it has never been about me. My destiny as a grandmother continues to be fulfilled, but I know it is about them --- not me. Join me in seeking God, beginning today . . . on this day of worship. Seek His face, seek His will, and ask Him to make His desires yours. It only takes one person and God to make a majority and make a difference. Be blessed.

Wild Women

I've been reading a book I've had for a while --- one that I put on a shelf because God needed me to wait until now to read it. It's One in a Million by Priscilla Shirer, and in the first four chapters, I have worn out my highlighter. Her writing is easy to understand, and when I read her words, I feel like we must be sisters. IN reality, we are: Christian sisters. At this point in my life, I am thinking about and praying for the very things she addresses in this book, and I want to share one part this morning. In chapter 4, she talks about letting the floodgates of heaven rain down in her life. She talks about a time in her life when she took God out of the box she had built for Him, allowing and expecting Him to be "predictable in His character, yes, but . . . unpredictable in His activity." You see, Shirer grew up in a strong church that taught Biblical truth; in fact, her father was the pastor. She was immersed in Bible knowledge, but she became spiritually hungry for people who might join her in going beyond to a different level of worship and faith. In that search, she found what she calls "wild women": " . . . people who have as their goal a mind-blowing, life-altering experience with the living God of the Bible...'wild women' -- people who pray and believe, who ask and expect, who hear me out and set me straight." I love it. Not only do I want to surround myself with such people, but I want to BE that person. I want to be openly, radically and wildly obedient to God's call, every day, convenient or inconvenient, wherever He leads. I want to be known as His daughter, His follower, His servant. I want to be an answer to the prayers of others, and I want to allow God to fill my life with believers who are just as wild for Jesus as I am. And guess what: He's doing just that. In the last few years, I have prayed for God to place in my life women who love Him radically , and as long as I have remembered to put Him above all else, He has been doing that for me. I thank God today for the women who have become a part of my circle of believers -- women who wake up every day to serve Him --- women who pray every day to be His hands and feet --- women who are not satisfied with the status quo of life --- women who are prayer warriors for His Kingdom. Through His grace, He has given me friends north, south, east and west, and in the last few months, he had added some right in my back door. So why am I telling you all of this? Because I need to thank Him and praise Him in a loud voice, and I need to share what I've learned. I thank God for my praying sisters in North Myrtle Beach, Georgetown, Murrels Inlet, Florence, Myrtle Beach, Columbia, Walterboro . . . the list goes on and on. I am blessed. I thank God for my radical, crazy friend who went back to school to study God's Word . . . two young children, a full-time job, and she's a student again. Crazy, but exactly what God asked of her. I thank God for my Facebook friends who encourage me to write. I thank God for allowing me to reconnect with my wonderful cousin who loves the Lord. And most recently, I thank God with all I am for bringing my Sunday School class into my life. They care, pray, text, call, show up, cook . . . whatever it takes to be the hands and feet of Jesus, and I know I am loved. Thank You, God. Not to slight the godly men in my life, I am grateful for a pastor who preaches the Word with passion, intelligence and honesty. I am grateful for a husband who knows the desires God has put in my heart and encourages me to pursue them. I am grateful for so much. Thank You, God. And what's the lesson in all of this? I love being surrounded by Christian friends --- "wild women" and radical men who hunger for God and His desires, but they can never come before my hunger for God. And when I put Him first, He never fails to surround with exactly who I need at the perfect time. He never fails to lift me up through the hands of other believers, and He surely never fails to open doors of service and opportunity --- chances to be an humble, grateful servant alongside others who love Him in the way I do. If you want to be a passionate follower of Christ, surrounded by others who will join you in His service, put Him first and let His desires become yours. He will bless you every single time. I am sure of it. Live tenaciously.