DEFEATED!?!?!?!?!

DEFEATED……

UGH!  Ever wake up and already feel that way!?  I mean, seriously, what could have happened between the time I laid down in bed to when I opened my eyes this morning?

It’s my thoughts!  You know the ones…..doubt, fear, worry, anxiety, stress…they creep in OVERNIGHT (Literally)!!!  We can have the most amazing day the day before go to bed and wake up in a funck!!!! 

Ya know what?  David, yes…KING David….the one that was “after God’s own heart” HE DID TOO!!!!  He had those days that he felt alone, stressed, abandoned……..DEFEATED!!!  How do I know? – you might ask…..looking through Psalm, take a look at this….”Listen to my cry for help”, “My soul is in anguish”, “give me relief from my distress”……and these are from only the first couple of chapters!!!!!!!!!!!!

Want to know the BEST part???  The ENDING of those prayers! ….take a look….”I will lay down and sleep in PEACE”, “I will not fear”, “You have filled my heart with greater joy”……………………….WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today – I did the very thing David did.  I got up, in all of my DEFEATEDNESS, and sat down to “chat” with Jesus……

As we talked through some of my “issues” I began to feel the “issues” lift…Now at this point you may ask “what changed? You just went from awake to praying” well, that’s the BEAUTY of it, my mind started to focus on the character of Him and His love for me.  I began to switch my thinking and stop dwelling on the “what if’s and why’s”  to things like this “In the morning YOU hear my voice Lord, I lay my request before you and wait in EXPECTATION” - - - - - - I KNOW He loves me and only wants the best for me!  David did too, you see,  that last part is straight from David in Psalm 5:3.  

Are you feeling stressed, worried, DEFEATED???? – Lay your request before Him….then….EXPECT that HE has a plan and let HIM carry the burden…….He even ask us to…..take a look

Matthew 11:28
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”  - That came straight from Jesus’ mouth ;)

Get those thoughts focused on HIM today!  Let’s do it together!!!!  Just like a Mother/Father doesn’t want to see their children hurting….how much GREATER does HE not want to see that…..LEAN on HIM today….I know I am!!

Getting REAL!

Do you desire a relationship with someone that knows you?  I mean REALLY knows you!  Are you frustrated with the battle of trying to get your point across and your views and opinions heard?  Have you proven your case only to be misunderstood and looked over? 

Oh my, I have been there too.  Years ago, feeling like I just couldn’t trust, couldn’t depend, couldn’t find a relationship that I could be ME.  That in turn caused me to turn inward and become someone I was not!!

Isn’t it funny how we will put a defensive wall up because of fear!?!?  We will try to change the VERY CORE of who we are so that we will not get hurt!!  When the truth is ….we hurt ourselves more.

Wasted time!  Wasted seconds, minutes, days, weeks……..YEARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can I tell you something?  I have FOUND that relationship!  I have found the ONE that allows me to be ME AND gives me the FREEDOM to be ME with others!!!  Now, you may say “here we go, getting all spiritual again” or “yeah, yeah, but I need a REAL one”….OR you may even stop reading at this point because you feel you can’t relate…..PLEASE don’t…..

Let me challenge you!  SERIOUSLY!  You have tried everything else….RIGHT?  So why not?  God sees YOU!  He KNOWS you!  HE UNDERSTANDS YOU!  

A few years ago I finally sat down and got REAL with Him.  There were times it wasn’t pretty…I yelled….I cried….I was angry…and then…..all of a sudden…I laughed….I opened my mind to allow myself to speak out loud in a room that was empty of “tangible” people (no matter how CRAZY I FELT) to someone that has been there MY ENTIRE LIFE!  I was HONEST with Him and this conversation is a continual one that occurs throughout every day.  I sense Him there at times while others I don’t however I KNOW that He is there!  How? Because I TRUST HIM!  I have taken advice from so MANY PEOPLE in my life.  Some was great…other’s….well not so much!  HOWEVER, EVERY time I have taken the guidance of His word and done what He said to do….GUESS WHAT? – IT WORKED!!!  Every time!  That’s 100% people!!!!   So…….

TRY IT!!!!  Just get into a room – CLOSE the door! – (even if it’s at your office and you have to go to the bathroom to do it!) and START!  You can even say “ok…I am here, now what?”  that simple statement can open the door to the possibilities of a REAL relationship with Jesus!  One that other’s CAN’T put words to the description because it’s one ONLY between YOU and Him!  Like I said…..you’ve tried everything else…why not!?!?!  He ALREADY knows YOUR HEART and your THOUGHTS….

Just do it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Shining!!

Shine like stars!!

Ever want to shine?  Now, let’s be honest!!!  No one is watching you right now…ever want to be seen and heard?  I think we ALL have!  Some personalities may not think they don’t  and will shy away from anything remotely close to shining, however I think even they want to shine. 

Look at it this way – ever notice a shy child when the teacher tells the class how “great” he/she is??  Ever see that one person that NEVER get’s noticed, LIGHT UP when their name is called as the ONE that made a difference???

Oh yes – we ALL want to shine!  We ALL want to make a difference in a world that desperately needs change!  We ALL want to be remembered after our time here is over! 

I think about the stars and what pulls my attention to one in particular as I stare in the sky – it’s the brightness of the one that catches my attention……it’s the one that is slightly different……..

Look at this:

 Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.  Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky ¹⁶ as you hold firmly to the word of life.

WOW!  I would say that seeing someone that did EVERYTHING without grumbling and complaining certainly would SHINE in this world – don’t you?!?!?! 

This is actually from the bible…it’s Philippians 2: 14-16…. And people think that life doesn’t come with instructions!?!?!  Ha Ha Ha…..

God’s word even tells us how to shine!!!!!!  Let’s shine BRIGHTLY today!!!

It's just a BIG MISunderstanding!!

Have you ever felt misunderstood???  Maybe even tried to set it straight to no avail??  How FRUSTRATING!!!! 

I mean, Your heart is truly saying one thing and you express it the way it’s felt yet no sooner than you let it out – you are met with resistance, anger, sadness, etc….

Right away you see that – HOUSTON we HAVE A PROBLEM!!!!  What is that about?!?!?!?!  Why does this happen?!?!?!  Or better yet – how do we prevent it???

In 1 Peter 3 (MSG) it says this –

If with heart and soul you're doing good, do you think you can be stopped? Even if you suffer for it, you're still better off. Don't give the opposition a second thought. Through thick and thin, keep your hearts at attention, in adoration before Christ, your Master.

The reality is that no matter how hard we try and how much our heart’s desire is to do good…sometimes the receiver may not hear it the way it’s said or felt…. The question is – can YOU control that??  NO!   

You can certainly learn through each encounter and try to communicate better in the future but YOU still aren’t able to control the response…

The message is to KEEP ON!  We are here to BLESS, ENCOURAGE, LIFT UP, and bring COMPASSION to those around us!  We are here to LOVE!  UNCONDITIONALLY!  

 The key is OUR HEART! 

Romans 12:18
If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

Be encouraged today – speak from YOUR HEART in LOVE for HIM  - You can’t go wrong!!

Check it!

“People do not seem to realize that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character.”

WOW! – Think about that statement for a second!  Isn’t that true! 

I think about conversations, in general and go over things I have said or thought as I would watch life happen around me.  I use to be the one that would make a statement when someone would walk in dressed one way or another, making a “judgment” call about that person…. Or overhear a conversation between two people that had NOTHING to do with me and right away make another “judgment” call as to what was going on in their situation – knowing NOTHING about them! …… Just in those two circumstances you can see that I had a “JUDGMENTAL” character….

I will give you another example….maybe someone (we will call her Sadie) is  in a department store and it doesn’t seem that busy yet no one is waiting on HER – she begins to get upset…. Or Sadie is out to eat and the waitress seems to be focused on other things and not HER – She can feel anger brewing inside….At this point one would gather a “selfish” character is what Sadie’s confession would be….

Let’s look at another example…..Hannah is in a coffee shop and there is a lady beside her that continues to complain about the service, the weather, the chair she is sitting in and Hannah says to her friend…”You know, I wonder if that lady has had a bad morning?  Maybe a free Danish would bring her joy”…  (WOW!!!!!!)

Hannah is in the kitchen after a LONG day at work and the house is a MESS all around her…she is starting dinner as everyone begins to ask things of her…”mom, can you get my book off the shelf?”  “Honey, can you iron my shirt after dinner?”…EVEN the DOG wants something!!!!  Hannah responds “Lord, thank you for the family that I have.  One that you have allowed me to be the keeper of and the caretaker.  Thank you for letting me have them to take care of. “………(WHAT!?!?!?!) 

You could definitely say that Hannah’s confession is one of “Self – LESSNESS”  one that focuses on bringing joy and love…

Oh how I would LOVE to ALWAYS respond like Hannah!!!!   Unfortunately I don’t…sometimes I do but others I am the “judgmental” one or the “selfish” one HOWEVER, I am learning and my desire is to continue to TRANSFORM and strive to be a woman of HOPE for others…a WOMAN of integrity and more than anything a WOMAN that reflects God’s love….

How about YOU!?!?!?!  Where are you in this journey today?  If you are following Jesus YOU have a PROMISE that is so exciting!!!!  Take a look :

Philippians 1:6
being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

You see, if you are starting to get glimpses of responding the way Hannah did in the examples above then guess what?!?!?!  You are on the right path!!!  And the promise above says that HE will FINISH the work!!!  WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

As you look around in the world today – see if you can take on a NEW view…remember our response is a good meter to check our character…..

Practice....practice....PRACTICE!!!!

Oh how I sometimes wish God would ZAP me!  How about you??  If I need patience….ZAP ME…..wake up in a bad mood….ZAP ME (I suddenly am happy)……need peace…ZAP ME……

I don’t know about you but it doesn’t seem to be working that way!!!  I will plead for patience and then get hit with the most insane situation where another second in it would make me EXPLODE!!!  I have even tried the whole..”I am going to MAKE THIS a good day” attitude to no sooner get out of my bathroom in the morning to find myself so irritated that I could pinch someone’s head off! 

Then it hit me….He isn’t going to ZAP me because I wouldn’t learn! 

I used to play basketball  ( I will have to interject here that I was not ZAPPED with basketball talent either, ok back to the story)…….I would have to practice for hours!  Take shooting for example…I practiced to the point that I could almost feel when the ball left my hand if the shot was going to go in or not (that in itself was a MIRACLE!)… I remember lying in my bed at night shooting the ball into the air, focused and trying to even visualize the ball going in every time it left my hand….

PRACTICE!  He isn’t ZAPPING us but He is giving us the opportunities to PRACTICE the very things we are asking Him for…..

So, how do we do that?  When those times start creeping in that causes us to lose our joy of the day or causes worry and anxiety to cloud our thinking…STOP and see if by chance these are times of PRACTICE!  When we open our eyes in the morning and have already started off in a bad mood, PRACTICE!!!! 

So maybe your saying…..yeah right!?!?!  You have no idea what my day is like…. You would be right in that BUT He does and HE knows your heart and what your desires are.  He know EVERYTHING about you.  He isn’t causing the situations to occur but He is using then to teach you and I….

Romans 8:28

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

The “good” would be His molding of us for the purpose HE created for us to do.  It’s in those moments of irritation, aggravation, those times that we can choose to not stress or worry (over things we can’t control anyway) or choose to wring our hands let it consume our day… it’s in those times of allowing our words to tear someone down or choosing to talk about the good….these are the times we are PRACTICING until…..guess what happens???

We see progress and notice that things are changing……… Sometimes I still long to be ZAPPED however I know that my hard head would never LEARN anything that way……

How about you???

Simple........

After a preschool project one weekend, we had some left over birdseed.  The other day Hope, my daughter, asked her Daddy if she could put some seed outside and feed the birds.  Having no birdfeeder, Brent took her outside and let her toss some on the porch.  As she came in Brent and I both wondered if birds would come.  I mean, it was winter and we HAVE NEVER fed birds in our yard.

Within MINUTES birds were everywhere! 

 Simple? Yes, I know but as we watched them this verse hit me:

Matthew 6:26
Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

I think about how God controlled that entire situation!  Think about this for a moment…….The ” nudge”  to have Hope want to through out bird seed (which we have NEVER done)  and how the Father brought the birds straight to our yard…..

Can you imagine if we acted on the other “nudges” that He places within us daily! Take a look at the end of that verse again!  “Are YOU not much more valuable that they”…..

Simple? Yes, yet in the simplicity of the act of tossing seeds in our back yard makes you think …could that nudge lead you to feed the hungry, cloth those who need clothes, or simply be that shoulder for someone to lean on or a smile that brightens someone’s day……

Simple – yet POWERFUL!