If the Son has set us free, why do the bill collectors have us on speed dial?

  So here we are friends, already a month into 2012...Wow! I don't know about you, but I feel as if 2012 snuck upon me with a retrospective bang that I was not prepared for. It forced me to take a long, hard look in the mirror of self-examination, and face the reality that I have come up sorely lacking. ( Please tell me I am not alone! ) Each day that I am alive brings a new day for me to discover how little I know. ( You may think this is false modesty, but I assure you it is not. This is truly the way God teaches me .. ..) It is good for us to see ourselves in the light of Truth, and times of self examination can be the best things that ever happen to us, if we allow ourselves to be refined, and changed by them! ( If they don't change us, then they were nothing but a waste of time, and who has that much time to kill? ) 
       There is a movement sweeping across our nation that excites me. It is a movement (more like an abrupt shift ) to simplicity, frugality and ingenuity. I want to say that this shift thrills me to no end, ( perhaps this is because simplicity and frugality are two things I am very much at home with out of necessity, and am therefore, glad to finally be in style ) but my excitement is also very much tempered by the circumstances that brought about the need for this movement. I am not insensitive to the financial hardships that some around me have had to suffer. This has been a painful time of loss, and self examination for so many of us in this country. ( ...I might even say in our world ) It seems as if the ground has shifted ( is still shifting ) uncontrollably under our feet, and we fear we may never get our financial footing again. Some of us have been moved so far out of our financial comfort zones, that it feels as if we are no longer even in the same zip code as comfort. I am acutely aware that this could be a time of great heartbreak for us if we find our identity, self worth, and treasures in the wrong places. ( I would have lost all hope long ago if mine were in my possessions or my bank account! They are NOT praise God! )
      My prayer is that I can give you ( through scripture ) a little bit of hope today. The hope and treasure you find in scripture is not dependant on the economy, and it is something you can take to the eternal bank!( which is in NO danger of ever shutting down .....Yea, God is good! ) There is a quote floating around out there that goes like this: ( I so wish I knew who said it first so I could give them credit ... ) " When we are down to nothing, God is up to something " (- Unknown ) I LOVE this, and I can testify that this has been so very true in my life. So many times in my life God has torn down certain areas of my heart in order to rebuild them in His beautiful image. Many of you right now are thinking that you are down to nothing. You are thinking the well has gone dry, the flour has run out, the bank account is empty....if this is you, then take heart my weary friend .....when we reach the end of ourselves, and reach for Him, He is faithful not just to hear us, but to answer us! Remember, His faithfulness is assured ( because He is God, and cannot be any less than all that He is .....and all that He is is good! Thank you God! )
             Matthew 7:7-8 says :
            " Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. "
     This is a promise that if we truly seek Him, and desire to know His will, His heart, and His plan, He will be found by us. Not only will He be found by us, but He will give us the ability and provision we need in order to walk in His will. God promises us that if He is our heart's desire, and we will trust Him, He will provide everything we need to live the life He calls us to live! ( When you walk with Him, allowing Him to use you for His glory, you will receive direct deposits of daily manna from His eternal bank account! Wow! )
            James 1:9 says :
      " Believers in humble circumstances ought to take pride in their high position. "

 This verse is so awesome to me! I love it, but it has taken me years to grasp the meaning of it. Simply put, those of us who are blessed enough to find ourselves in humble circumstances ought to rejoice! My friends, when we don't have anything in our bank accounts, we get to see those daily, eternal deposits come in, and when we do, we know that none but the hand of God could have put them there. I consider myself to be highly blessed to be loved by my heavenly daddy in this way. He shows me on a daily basis that I am the apple of His eye! ( don't be jealous that I have such a great daddy .....He wants to be yours too! =-)  )
      Now your next question to me will be,
             " Hey how can I get that kind of promise? I want daily provision from an eternal bank account! " ( I would think you were nutty if you didn't! ) If you are trying to figure out how to get to where I am, I will confess to you that it is as simple as accepting the free gift of grace found in Jesus Christ.
         John 3:16 says :
     " For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. "

 and Romans 8:32 tells us :
  " He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? "

  If God, in His great love for us, did not spare His one and only Son, but gave Him for us, that we might have eternal life, how could we possibly think that He would not also provide such a small thing like our daily needs! ( I can just hear the amens, but may I very humbly suggest what may be a new thought? ) When we finance our daily needs ( and daily wants ) through any bank other than the eternal one, we are showing God that we do not trust Him, and we are robbing Him of the opportunity to be daddy to us! On top of that we are robbing ourselves of blessings, and paying interest on something that God very much wants to give us freely!
     
          John 8:32 says :
" Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

  I believe that Jesus himself is the Truth, and the Way and the Life! ( I believe this because the Bible says it in John 14:6 ) and that in Him we will find the only path to true freedom, a freedom unlike any we can ever possibly experience or manufacture in our own strength. It is a deep and eternal freedom that, for those of us who have experienced it, has filled us with such hope and fulfillment, that we have no earthly desire to ever go back! ( I am confident I am not alone in this conviction! Amen?! )

 John 8:36 gives us another beautiful promise :
"So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. "

 Friend, if you find yourself in a place where you feel anything but free, and you find yourself longing for the freedom, joy and deep contentment that others around you appear to have ......take heart! These verses are for you! There is NO debt so large that my all sufficient God cannot help you achieve freedom from it! ( I am not promising an overnight fix here .......this is a lifestyle, a walk, a relationship.)
   God often uses the consequences of our own decisions to teach us valuable lessons. If you are in the midst of learning these kind of lessons, ( and, if we are honest, who of us isn't? ) then don't get discouraged, though we are utterly and hopelessly flawed, My God is perfect in all His ways, and merciful beyond comprehension! .......My prayer for us today is that we would be brave enough to ask God to help us see ourselves the way He sees us, ( warts all ) and when He reveals all the unpleasant little chinks in our imperfect armor, may we then be brave enough to ask Him to refine us by the fire and remake us into the people He longs for us to be!

                 Isaiah 61:1-2
" The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
   because the LORD has anointed me
   to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
   to proclaim freedom for the captives
   and release from darkness for the prisoners,^[a]
to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor
   and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn, "

......Thank you Jesus!! <3

Wash Me Lord ....If You Really Must!

 

 

       So, here we are friends ....rejoicing in the beauty of God's great love for us, accepting that we are flea-market finds ( actually, the flea market would be a step up from where he found me....just saying ), acknowledging the terrible mess our lives are in, and with joy in our hearts, turning over full control of said mess to our oh so wonderful Father. After all, He has told us that we are His treasured possessions! He looks upon us with that indescribable, and unbelievable look that is only seen as a daddy looks upon the child he adores! ( We are the apples of His eye, even if He dug us out of the dumpster! ) The sweet knowledge of that is just too awesome for me to get my mind around completely, but oh my goodness, how I do love my daddy! It is very tempting for me to camp out right here, .....and they all lived happily ever after. The end! ( I mean, this is enough for me...amen? ) However, this is most certainly NOT the end, and this will never be enough for God. In fact, if we look back at that verse, there may just be something we hurried past ( Who can blame us? We saw treasure and we ran right? Ok, maybe it was just me )

                   Deuteronomy 7:6 says:
     "  For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession. "

    There, did you see it that time? He calls us to be HOLY, He calls us OUT of the world, He calls us to be HIS! It is thrilling to know that I am His treasure, and it is even more thrilling to know that He is not going to leave me a broken down heap of mess! His desire is to make me into an awesome masterpiece that will reflect His glory! How exciting!! How will He do this we wonder, and like giddy, sugared up children, we are eagerly waiting on the day......
     I spent a good portion of my day doing laundry.. ( I have no idea where it all comes from, but truly, I could spend every day doing laundry and never be done! Somebody please tell me I am not alone! ) and my laundry situation got me thinking about sin. ( laundry is not a happy time for me. Don't judge me! ) I can thank my son for this. ( ...and, I need to say upfront, that I love him very much! That being said .... ) There are times when I literally have to threaten, and sometimes even begin to remove clothing off his person to get it into the washing machine! Is this because he is a dirty kid, with an aversion to soap? Does he favor dirty clothes ( and the rather pungant smell that goes with them ) over clean and fresh ones? Certainly not! He is a clean kid, who enjoys a freshly washed wardrobe as much as the next kid. " Why then? " you ask. The truth is, my son has favorites, those items in his wardrobe that he knows he looks good in, and are the most comfortable. ( The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree here. I too am a creature of habit, often pulling out my " old reliable " items from my wardrobe, and yes I DO wash them regularly! )
       Somehow, ( only God knows how ) this all got me thinking about sin. You see, when we come to God recognizing our sin and our brokenness ( our mess ), admit to Him that we can't fix it, and we need help, and when we believe that God is exactly who He says He is in the person of Jesus Christ, ( Jesus is the son of God ) then the Father steps in, forgives our sins, and accepts us where we are. He then does something else....

                   1 John 1:9 says :
           "  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all   unrighteousness. "

...Don't miss it! The Bible says He purifies us from all unrighteousness ( which is a fancy Bible word for sin and mess ) The Father, picks us up out of that dumpster with His gentle, and masterful hands, and washes us all clean! ( through the blood of Jesus ) That is another goose bump moment for me! I hope it is for you too my friend! So why is it then, that we get ourselves all cleaned and spiffed up by a more than generous, and patient Father, and almost as quick as He puts our squeaky clean feet back on the ground, we run straight for the same ( or maybe a different  ) mud hole he found us in? I want to be clean, but I sure do like to play in that dirt! Why, I wonder, do Christians make God spend so much time doing laundry!? You know, the thought occurs to me that He is never going to dress us up in our Sunday best if He can't even trust us to keep our play clothes clean! All the mothers out there just said Amen! (  I'm pretty sure I heard it )

            1 Peter 2:9-10 says :
" But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. "

     Friends, God tells us that we are His chosen people! He calls us a royal priesthood. Once we were in the dark ( playing in that mud ), and He brought us into the Light, ( and cleaned us up! ) so that we might praise and glorify Him! I don't know about you, but I sure would like to try on some royal clothes for a change! Let's ask God to help us to live in His strength ( behaving like the royalty He chose us to be ), so that the our Holy, Heavenly Father might be pleased enough to change us out of play clothes, and into some royal robes!

A New Day, A Treasured Mess!

Today, I am determined to begin my blog! This will be the final of many failed attempts, due to lingering insecurities. There is that small voice always forcing itself to be heard ( I'm sure you know the one I'm talking about ....maybe you have your own ), the one that says, " What could you possibly have to write about? Your life is a dull, hot mess girl! " ...Ah yes, so many times I have surrendered to that crafty little dream killing voice, but not today! This is a new day my friends! I am bound and determined to start 2012 with a spring in my step, the love of Christ in my heart, and a confidence that can only come from allowing myself to believe that I am who my Father says I am in the wonderful light of the cross!

Please do NOT misunderstand me ....I would never dare lead you to believe that I have it all figured out, and all the rough edges have suddenly and miraculously become smooth! Can I be perfectly honest and say that my life is still a hot mess? The difference in this day and all the others is not my circumstances, it is my heart. God is teaching me to accept that I am imperfect ( beautiful in His eyes...but imperfect non the less ), reassuring me that He sees my imperfections, and asking me to trust Him enough to let Him gently remove the chinks in my less than stellar armor in His time. To be honest, I am rather relieved because this takes a whole lot of pressure off of me! I'll just say it loud and clear : I am a MESS, and I can't fix myself!! ( I have been trying for 30 some years and it has not gone so well )

I come from a less than perfect family,( saying less than perfect might be a bit too kind ), I married a less than perfect man, we have three less than perfect children, we live in a less than perfect house, and attend a less than perfect church.( I apologize to any of our fellow church members who were not aware of this ) Still, amidst all of that I can tell you that life is still good, and beautiful, and that God is very good!

This is the wonder of my awesome God: His brilliant perfection shines best through my imperfections! He is the God of second ( and third and fourth ) chances. He is a God who is all about the project....the bigger the fixer-upper, the bigger the opportunity for Him to display the skill of His master hand! He is all about restoration and new beginnings! His most important restoration project was done on the cross as He gave His one and only Son to die on the cross, so that through Him we would have a way to be restored to right fellowship with the Father. ( Even then, He knew we couldn't fix our mess and He didn't ask us to! I do love my awesome God! )

John 3:16-17 says :

" For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. "

Deuteronomy 6:7 says :

For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.

I sincerely hope that these verses are as exciting to you as they are to me! They breathe healing truth into my life...the truth that God, in His infinite, and merciful wisdom, knew that we were an imperfect heap of mess, without any hope or possibility of fixing ourselves. Yet, He loved us while we were still an ugly mess, and made a way ( Jesus Christ ) for us to be made clean. His deepest desire is to be loved by us, and to make us into a new creation ....so much so that He calls us ( patiently, lovingly ) unto Himself, and even goes so far as to call us His treasured possession! Wow! The knowledge of that is so wonderful it gives me goosebumps!

So,whatever mess you are trying to clean up in your own strength today, and whatever lies your little inner voice is feeding you .....this is a new day my friend! I pray you will find renewed confidence and hope in the light of God's great love for you. Remember, you are His treasured possession! So, Let go, and let God!! <3