This too

I read a devotional a few days ago that has lingered in my mind... I've titled my blog "Seasons of Life" for those that follow me to get a glimpse into the Season of Life I'm in.  Currently I'm in the season of figuring out how to juggle my time between being a homemaker, wife, mommy and most importantly child of God.  Here's the deal though, I'm a creature of habit, a structured "freak" if you will.  I've even got my 10 month old on a regimented schedule of his own and he does quite well.  However, I've found that my perfect little schedule doesn't work with every season of life.  That brings me to the devotion I read:

This too

What activities in life are holy? Webster defines holy as, “exalted, divine, devoted entirely to deity or the work of deity.”

What activities in life qualify as worship? Webster defines worship as, “reverence offered a divine being.”

Is being a pastor more holy than being a parent? Is singing more worshipful than serving?

I do not think so.

Our motivations can make the simplest task holy or the most impressive deed dead. Our attitudes can make the smallest act worship or the grandest offering bankrupt.

This is cause for celebration for the sincere in heart: every season of life is overflowing with potential to live a holy, worshipful existence.

When I was single, solitude was holy.

When newly married, two-now-one was worship.

When I became a mother, life together was both.

Even this morning, I was reminded of how pleased Father God is when we offer him our ordinary moments. Baby Louie is our family alarm clock. He wakes up, rain or shine, at 6:30 a.m. Eventually, all three children climb in bed with us.

Keona normally comes in first, carrying her pillow and wedging herself between Barry and me. She snuggles close, and I breathe in the refreshing scent of her peppermint hair cream. Then Jonathan emerges sleepily from his room, says “Morning!” and goes to the restroom. Crawling into our bed, he closes his eyes as I kiss his warm porcelain cheek and shake my head remembering how he used to fit in my hands.

The next ten to thirty minutes are filled with quiet cuddles and questions about life. When wiggly baby Louie joins us, we all become fences around the queen bed’s perimeter to keep him from bouncing off.

Before entering parenthood, Barry and I would always get up and offer the first part of our day to God through songs, walks, extended readings, and quiet times. Today I gazed into the eyes of my loving kids, touched their soft faces, and smiled as I looked at the clock.

My Bible, journal, piano would still be waiting for me later in the day. But I knew that Father God was smiling over these morning moments as well. I could almost hear God whisper as I hugged and loved on his kids:

“Ah, this too is holy. This too is worship.”

It made me realize that although my house is not always as clean as I'd like it, my prayer time isn't as long as I want it to be, my day is not as structured as I wished that it was, it's in those moments of playing with Mack, singing and being silly, reading a book, teaching him about God and life that God says, "Ah, this too is holy.  This too is worship."

the quiet in quiet time

Read this devotional by Alicia Chole and thought it was worth reposting.

the quiet in quiet time

“...and Father please...
and remember to...
and I need...
and watch over...
and help us with...
...thank you for this quiet time, amen.”

“Child, I missed something.”

“Yes, Father, what did You miss?”

“Where was the ‘quiet’ in this ‘quiet time’?”

“Oh Father, I did it again. I forgot to pause, to rest, to wait, to listen.”

“Understandable Child, you do have a lot on your mind.”

“Father, You’re smirking!”

“Ah, but it’s a love-filled smirk!

“Remember to add quiet to your quiet time Child. Quietness creates a pause that re-aligns your values with My own. Quietness unclutters your faith and refreshes your peace. Quietness frees you from the forceful currents of business and magnetizes your soul to eternity. But most of all, quietness gently ushers you closer to Me—which is exactly where I long for you to remain.”

Guidance for reflective journaling

One ~ In Creative Prayer, Bridgid Herman states that, “The most formidable enemy of the spiritual life and the last to be conquered is self-deception; and if there is a better cure for self-deception than silence it has yet to be discovered.” Prayerfully think about the connection between noisy living and self-deception. How can silence unveil deception?

Two ~ Consider Psalm 130.5: “I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.” Earlier generations often spoke of “waiting” on the Lord. Is the “waiting” spoken of by the psalmist familiar or unfamiliar to you? Spend a few moments evaluating the “quiet” in your quiet time. Are you comfortable or uncomfortable with silence? What role does listening/silence have in your prayer life?

Three ~ This week try an experiment: carve out 3-5 minutes each day to simply rest in stillness and silence in God’s presence. For these few minutes just “be” without reading, speaking, asking, singing, or working. Wait on Jesus not for answers, but because He is worthy of waiting upon. Honor God with a few minutes of silence and stillness.

No Substitutions Allowed

Read this devotional and thought it was worthy enough to share.

substitutes

"Instead of buttermilk, use yogurt.
Instead of lemon juice, use vinegar..."

The cookbook’s substitution chart provides a useful list of replacements for common ingredients.

When dealing with food, substitution is smart.
But substitution is sabotage when dealing with the heart.

Instructed to destroy everything associated with the Amalekites' idolatrous culture, King Saul preserved the best of the spoils. He explained to Samuel that he disobeyed in order "to sacrifice to the Lord." But no sacrifice can substitute for obedience. King Saul's substitution sabotaged his reign.

Substitutions can likewise sabotage our futures. God asks for commitment, we offer excuses. God asks for purity, we substitute activity. God asks for time, we substitute money. God asks for love, we substitute things.

The recipe for bringing God delight reads simply:
1 heart of obedience
(no substitutions allowed)

Guidance for reflective journaling

One~ Begin your time of reflection in quietness for 2-3 minutes. In stillness, as your mind becomes less cluttered, hold one simple question in your soul before God: “Father, what have You truly asked me to do in this season of life.” Write down the thoughts that collect in your heart in this time of prayer.

Two~ Looking over the list, prayerfully evaluate whether you are offering obedience or some other substitute for each focus/task/goal/objective that God has given you.

Three~ If you have become aware that in some area you are offering substitutes for pure obedience, consider the counsel of the prophet Samuel:

So Samuel said: "has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams." 1 Samuel 15.22

Father God, forgive us for offering You substitutes for obedience. To obey You is better than any substitute sacrifice we could offer. May we follow Your voice faithfully with willing minds and obedient hearts.

Proverbs 30:7-9

During the month of January Micah challenged our youth group to start the year off reading through the book of Proverbs. Each day coinciding with the date we read one chapter and from that chapter we pick our favorite verse of the day to post on our facebook status.  Then we are to comment on it and others can comment as well.  This has become my favorite feeding time with Mack as I read the daily Proverb aloud to Mack and truly meditate on which verse spoke to me from that passage. Today was Proverbs 30 and these verses have really stuck out to me:


7 O God, I beg two favors from you;
  let me have them before I die.8 First, help me never to tell a lie.
  Second, give me neither poverty nor riches!
  Give me just enough to satisfy my needs.9 For if I grow rich, I may deny you and say, "Who is the Lord ?"
  And if I am too poor, I may steal and thus insult God's holy name.


In particular the part that says, "Give me just enough to satisfy my needs." Wow, how often are we asking God to give us enough so we don't have to worry. This guy sums it up well, check this out.


Lord, I pray help me to be content with just enough to satisfy my needs. May I never be greedy for more or ungrateful for what I have but satisfied with your provision as I seek you first.

Strengths Can Turn to Weaknesses

Has it ever occurred to you that one of your strengths could become a weakness?  I hadn't until recently.  Think about this:  good looks or wealth can lead to pride.  Excessive privilege can invite hardheartedness and injustice. Leadership can turn into control or manipulation. Generosity can lead to overspending on others.  Physical strength can turn into abuse. Friendliness can turn into inappropriate flirtation.  Obsessive planning can destroy spontaneity and cause rigidity.  

Maybe yours isn't listed here but I dare you to ask yourself, "What strength could potentially turn into a weakness?" I realized amongst those listed was one glaring me straight in the face and I never would have thought it could become a weakness.  My need for structure, calendars and obsessive planning can definitely create a barrier to spontaneity.  I need to learn to be open to the unplanned, unscheduled events of life.  Just because they didn't make my calendar doesn't mean it wasn't on God's calendar.

So how do we avoid this? Only by becoming aware of your strengths and asking for God's protection of those strengths to be used for his glory and his plan for your life.

Getting What We Want

"Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding.  In all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths." (Prov. 3:5-6)

Ever want something and didn't get it, only to state, "but I deserve it"? Too often, we Christians expect life to be perfect and for everything to go smoothly for us.  We expect success, happiness, joy, peace, and everything else.  When something stands in the way, we pout or complain.  

Although God does want us to have a good life, there will be times when we must be patient and endure not getting our way.  These disappointments test our character and level of spiritual maturity.  

Why do we think we should always be first while others have to endure the lesser position?  Why do we think we are entitled to the perfect life?  Perhaps sometimes we think more highly of ourselves than we ought to.  A humble mind enables us to take a back seat and wait for God to move us to the front.  God's Word says that we inherit the promises through faith and patience. Believing God is good, but can we continue to believe God and trust Him when we don't feel that life is fair?

The secret of the Christian life is that we commit ourselves fully to God.  If we surrender our wills to God, what happens doesn't make us angry.  If God doesn't give us what we want and ask for, our faith is strong enough to say, "Not my will, but Yours."

God help me, I often have strong desires, and when I don't get what I want, I get upset.  Forgive me.  Remind me that Jesus didn't want to die on the cross, but He lived in total submission to Your will.  I ask You, through Jesus Christ, to help me live in total submission and be content with what You give me.

Success

The world's definition of success is centered around the things of this world - things you can earn, buy, demand, manipulate, be, or make.  God views success distinctly different: it is that we glorify him by obeying him.  

The Lure of Success

What type of success beckons you?  Is it fame, wealth, possessions, power, perfection, or popularity?  Is it an impressive job title, getting invited to the right parties, or being a size eight? Is it having a company car and a key to the executive elevator?  Is it academic excellence, looking good, meeting deadlines, or having an expense account?  Is it being known on a first-name basis at the country club or having a reputation as a big tipper at restaurants? Or, is it more closely aligned with worshipping God with your life?

How Do You Define Success?

To me success is: Finding God's will for your life and doing it.  I believe seasons of our life will look different so at times God's will may be different.  We just have to obey what we know to do. Right now I feel like I am being a success-finally to be able to serve my husband with full abandon, the calling I felt God birth in me 6 years ago.  I am for the first time in a long time at a place where God truly is first, (Mt. 6:33) and to me that is success.

All Things Work for Good

"And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good  of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them." Romans 8:28 

Not all things that happen to us are good in and of themselves, but God is good and He can cause them to work toward our good if we trust him.  God makes this promise to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.  We must love God with all of our hearts, and we must want His will.  We must be willing to submit to His plan at all times.  

God's will:  to be molded into His image.  Sounds spiritual but in reality it hurts.  Just think of clay being pressed into a mold.  If the clay had feelings, being changed into an entirely different shape would probably be painful.  

If we take a lump of clay and press it into a mold, there is always too much clay and some must be discarded.  Often times there is more of us than will fit into the mold of Jesus, so thoughts, words and actions have to be discarded.  

We must learn to remain steadfast, knowing that no matter how things appear now, God will work them out for our good-and in the process , He will use them to make us better people.  His purpose in everything is to make us more like Jesus.  

To Be Tempted

A person has not shown true obedience if he or she has never had the opportunity to disobey. Thus we need to be tempted.

The word tempted is translated from the verb that means "examine or test to learn another's true nature or character."  When pressed by testing, tempting times, it can strengthen our resolve to remember that trials and temptations are not the real enemy. Eternally, perhaps our greatest enemy on earth is losing perspective and beginning to value our fragile surroundings more than God's faithful friendship in our lives.  From that point of view, if God's presence has led us into trying places, is there really any other place we would rather be? Both James and Peter call us to rejoice when we, like Jesus, experience testing times (James 3:2-4).

"The choices we make in the place of trial today are greatly the fruit of choices we have made in our yesterdays and every choice we make today is an investment in a future we cannot see."

Satan's basic methods have not changed since Jesus' stay in the Judean wilderness or, for that matter, Adam and Eve's stay in the Garden of Eden.  The same tempting invitations have sounded from generation to generation.  New packaging, for sure, but each shiny, modernized package contains the same tactics.  Thankfully, the power of Jesus' choices has also not changed.  His decisions-and the process by which he made them-can guide us safely through every tempting trial.  (Matthew 4:1-11)

Shaped by the Word of God

Hebrews 4:12  The Word of God is not simply a collection of words from God, a vehicle for communicating ideas; it is living, life-changing and dynamic as it works in us.  With the incisiveness of a surgeon's knife, God's Word reveals who we are and what we are not.  It penetrates the core of our moral and spiritual life.  It discerns what is within us, both good and evil. The demands of God's Word require decisions.  We must not only listen to the Word; we must also let it shape our lives.

Twelve Points to Hearing the Voice of God

If you know the Lord, you have already heard His voice - it is that inner leading that brought you to Him in the first place.  Jesus always checked with His Father (John 8:26-29) and so should we; hearing the voice of the heavenly Father is a basic right of every child of God.  Here are twelve points to hearing the voice of God.

1. Don't make guidance complicated.  It's actually hard not to hear God if you really want to please and obey HIm.  If you stay humble, He promises to guide you (Proverbs 16:9). Here are three simple steps to hear God's voice: (A) Submit to His Lordship.  Ask him to help you silence your own thoughts, desires, and the opinions of others, which may be filling your mind (2 Cor. 10:5).  Even though you have been given a good mind to use, right now you want to hear the thoughts of the Lord, who has the best mind (Prov. 3:5-6). (B) Resist the enemy, in case he is trying to deceive you at this moment.  Use the authority which Jesus Christ has given you to silence the voice of the enemy (James 4:7; Eph. 6:10-20). (C) Expect an answer.  After asking the question that is on your mind, wait for Him to answer. Expect your loving heavenly Father to speak to you. He will (John 10:27; Ps. 69:13; Ex. 33:11).
2. Allow God to speak to you in the way He chooses.  Don't try to dictate to Him concerning the guidance methods you prefer.  He is Lord-you are His servant (1 Sam. 3:9).  So listen with a yielded heart; there is a direct link between yieldedness and hearing.  He may choose to speak to you: Through His Word: This could come in your daily reading, or He could guide you to a particular verse (Ps. 119:105).  Through an audible voice (Ex. 3:4). Through dreams (Matt. 2) and visions (Is. 6:1, Rev. 1:12-17). But probably the most common of all means in through the quiet inner voice (Is. 30:21).
3. Confess any unforgiven sin.  A clean heart in necessary if you want to hear the voice of God (Ps. 66:18).
4. Use the Axehead Principle-a term coined from the story of 2 Kings 6.  If you seem to have lost your way, go back to the last time you knew the sharp, cutting edge of God's voice. Then obey.  The key question is:  Have you obeyed the last thing God told you to do?
5. Get your own leading.  God will use others to confirm your guidance, but you should also hear from Him directly.  It can be dangerous to rely on others to get the word of the Lord for you (1 Kings 13).
6. Don't talk about your guidance until God gives you permission to do so.  Sometimes this happens immediately; at other times, there is a delay.  The main purpose of waiting is to avoid four pitfalls of guidance: (A) pride, because God has spoken something to you; (B) presumption, by speaking before you have full understanding; (C) missing God's timing and method; (D) bringing confusion to others; they, too, need prepared hearts (Luke 9:36; Ecc. 3:7; Mark 5:19).
7. Use the Wise Men Principle.  Just as the Three Wise Men individually followed the star and in doing so, were all led to the same Christ, so God will often use two or more spiritually sensitive people to confirm what He is telling you (2 Cor. 13:1).
8. Beware of counterfeits.  Have you ever heard of a counterfeit dollar bill?  Yes, of course. But have you ever heard of a counterfeit paper bag?  No.  The reason is, only things of value are worth counterfeiting.  Satan has a counterfeit for everything of God that is possible for him to copy (Acts. 8:9-11; Ex. 7:22).  Counterfeit guidance comes, for example, through Quija boards, seances, fortunetelling, and astrology (Lev. 20:6, 19:26; 2 Kings 21:6).  The guidance of the Holy Spirit leads you closer to Jesus and into true freedom.  Satan's guidance leads you away from God into bondage.  One key test for true guidance: Does your leading follow principles of the Bible?  The Holy Spirit never contradicts the Word of God.
9. Opposition of man is sometimes guidance from God (Acts 21:10-14).  The important thing here, again, is yieldedness to the Lord (Dan. 6:6-23; Acts. 4:18-21).  Rebellion is never of God, but sometimes He asks you to step away from your elders in a way that is not rebellion, but part of His plan.  Trust that He will show your heart the difference.
10. Every follower of Jesus has a unique ministry (1 Cor. 12; 1 Pet. 4:10-11; Rom. 12; Eph. 4). The more you seek to hear God's voice in detail, the more effective you will be in your own calling. Guidance is not a game-it is serious business where we learn what God wants us to do in ministry and how He wants us to do it.  The will of God is doing and saying the right thing in the right place, with the right people, at the right time, and in the right sequence, under the right leadership, using the right method, with the right attitude of heart.
11. Practice hearing God's voice and it becomes easier.  It's like picking up the phone and recognizing the voice of your best friend...you know his voice because you have heard it so much.  Compare young Samuel with the older man Samuel (1 Sam. 3:4-7; 8:7-10; 12:11-18).
12. Relationship is the most important reason for hearing the voice of the Lord.  God is not only infinite, but personal.  If you don't have communication, you don't have a personal relationship with Him.  True guidance is getting closer to the Guide.  We grow to know the Lord better as He speaks to us and, as we listen to Him and obey, we make His heart glad (Ex. 33:11; Matt. 7:24-27).

To Know God's Will

To know God's will does not mean we must hear his voice.  He leads us in different ways.  When seeking God's will:

1. Make sure your plan is in harmony with God's Word.
2. Ask mature Christians for their advice.
3. Check your own motives - are you seeking to do what you want or what you think God wants?
4. Pray for God to open and close doors as he desires.

The Holy Spirit guides us to the right places, but he also guides us away from the wrong places. As we seek God's will it is important to know what God wants us to do and where he wants us to go, but it is equally important to know what God does not want us to do and where he does not want us to go.  

God Wants an Invitation

Ever feel like a "nobody", that God has so many millions of people to look out for that in comparison with some of them, your problems seem so petty?  Good news - He can care for all of us at the same time!  If Satan constantly attacks our minds, how else can we fortify ourselves? We fight back - but willpower alone won't work.  Our major weapon is to cry out to the Lord in humility asking Him to strengthen us.   Our heavenly Father wants to intervene and help us, but He waits for an invitation to get involved.  "You do not have, because you do not ask." (James 4:2)  It's as if God watches us struggle and allows us to become frustrated and angry.  We are too independent, and we experience a lot of unnecessary frustration simply because we try to do things without God's help.  But as soon as we sincerely ask for help, the Spirit comes to our rescue.