Let Go

I woke up this morning saying "Let go"... God wants us to let go.

• Let go of the things that hurt us – because he wants us healed.
• Let go of the things that aren’t right, because He wants us alright. 
• Let go of the burdens that bog us down, He wants us free
• Let go of the fear that holds us back, He wants us living boldly
• Let go of the shame that causes us to hide, He wants us to be confident
• Let go of the past that blocks our path, He wants us to step into the future He has for us
• Let go of the uncertainty that cripples us, He wants us to trust Him.
• Let go of doubt that blinds us, He wants us to have faith that He is a God of His Word.

Let go and Let God - be your everything...

 
 

Skin like a Child...

2 Kings 5: Naaman, commander of the army of the King of Syria, was a great and honorable man in the eyes of his master, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria.  He was a mighty man of valor, but a leper.

A young captive told him to go to Prophet Elisha and he’d be healed of his leprosy. 

Vs. 10 ¹⁰ And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean.” ¹¹ But Naaman became furious, and went away and said, “Indeed, I said to myself, ‘He will surely come out to me, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place, and heal the leprosy.’ ¹² Are not the Abanah^[a] and the Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage. ¹³ And his servants came near and spoke to him, and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do something great, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” ¹⁴ So he went down and dipped seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

Restoration requires:

·         Humbling ourselves and admitting we need restored

·         Asking for help

·         Willing to be obedient and do it God’s way (We’re not in charge).

 

Notice, GOD DIDN’T RESTORE HIS SKIN TO THAT OF A MATURE MAN OF BATTLE, BUT OF A LITTLE CHILD!

Restoration is making us better than we were before.  It isn’t just about the physical, but the emotional and spiritual as well.  Leprosy is a disease that causes numbness.  Many of us have leprosy of the heart in one way or another.  God will restore you, if you’re willing.

Know that it will take obedience – it may take doing things you don’t want to do – like forgiveness – of yourself and others; it may require confessing your trespasses and those who have trespassed against you.  It may not be convenient and it will require bathing in the river of living water (Jesus).  It is then, and only then, that true restoration will take place.

Hoping we can all receive restoration - that we may have both the skin and the heart of a child.  Be blessed!

There's Only One Choice...

Sitting back looking at my life, I see that I have everything I need and God is the one who gave it to me.  I look back and see the roadblocks He placed in the way to prevent me from making BIG mistakes when it came to my life choices.  I also see the blessings he has poured out on me when I needed them most.

It's amazing that when I didn't know him, He knew me.  He knew what was best for me.

Recently, it became real to me - how we go through life and relationships believing we have choices to make.  What I've discovered lately is that if you've truly chosen Christ as your Lord and Savior,  the choice is not yours, but His.  Whatever He wants goes.

Strangely, that was bittersweet to me.  I was glad or sort of proud that I've made that life choice, but also sad - knowing that those around me can choose anything they want, and I have no say in it.  I can't settle! I can't compromise! I have to choose Christ - even if that means losing someone I love or missing out on experiences with them as they choose the broader path.

I know that God will continue to bless my obedience and that the joy I find in Him can never be matched by my own efforts.  I am ever grateful that He chose me and am even more grateful that I chose Him.

God is awesome!  If you've never experienced Him personally, you should!  His thoughts are higher than our thoughts - that's because He's way smarter than us:)

Following is a video of a song by Trevor Morgan - one of my favorites.  Hoping you're blessed!

 

My Prayer for All this New Year

Ephesians 3:¹⁴ So I bow in prayer before the Father. ¹⁵ Every family in heaven and on earth gets its true name from him. ¹⁶ I ask the Father with his great glory to give you the power to be strong in your spirits. He will give you that strength through his Spirit. ¹⁷ I pray that Christ will live in your hearts because of your faith. I pray that your life will be strong in love and be built on love. ¹⁸ And I pray that you and all God’s holy people will have the power to understand the greatness of Christ’s love—how wide, how long, how high, and how deep that love is. ¹⁹ Christ’s love is greater than anyone can ever know, but I pray that you will be able to know that love. Then you can be filled with everything God has for you. ²⁰ With God’s power working in us, he can do much, much more than anything we can ask or think of.
 

And may you know that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ.

Romans 8:³¹ What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? ³³ Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. ³⁴ Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. ³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ³⁶ As it is written:

“For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”^[a]

³⁷ Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

My Dad...I'll miss you. 

Conversations with an 8-year Old

I'm always amazed how God uses my son, Jack, to minister to me.  I hope he does the same for you:

In school Jack had to do a "I Have a Dream" Speech. "I have a dream that one day this nation will have no wars. I have a dream that one day nobody will fight. I have a dream that one day all kids will be friends. I have a dream that I will help kids. I have a dream that one day that kids will be nice to each other. I have a dream that one day everyone will be friends. This is my hope and faith. With this faith we will be able to play together. This will be the day everyone is happy." -- and the children shall lead them.

Jack's letter to Santa: Dear Santa, How are you this year? All I really want is for you to take it easy on yourself this year. Can you get something speshel from your slay like the poler express. Hmmm do you want something for Chrismis this year do you want a potholder? love, Jack. PS. How are all your reindeer?

Jack just said to me "Mom, do you know how much I love you?" I said how much? He said "All the way from heaven to earth". I told him he was sweet and that he was one my most favorite people. He said "You just filled my bucket" :) I love that kid

One day Jack said to me "Mom, tell the ladies (women from the bible study group) that I was made to be smart, funny and to love the Lord". If you think about it, that's what we're all made to do -- to be wise, full of joy, and to love the Lord. The thing this kid teaches me:)

Jack and I were discussing the body of Christ this morning and he said "I'm the guts". I asked him if that meant he was courageous or if he digests the word (bread of life) and sends it out to the rest of the body. He said “both”.

The Lord can even use SpongeBob to make his point - Jack told me that Squidward is wrong because the Lord says to love your neighbor and Squidward doesn't. Can't argue with that :)

We work on our house; we work on our cars; we work on our yards; we have to remember to work on our relationships as well. Like Jack said "Mom, its okay to work as long as you don't work all the time and ignore the Lord." He's so smart -- out of the mouths of babes.

Jack was watching this Goosebumps movie. It was about a girl who kept wearing her mask where eventually she couldn't take the mask off. Jack says that God showed him that we should be happy with who we are and not try to be something we're not. What an awesome lesson for all of us.

One day while at a friends house, she was watching a show about this man who was claiming to be Christ - he was a Puerto Rican man in his 60's with tattoos.  Without missing a beat, Jack said "Jesus has scars, not tattoos".  Amazing how this child isn't deceived but thousands of people are following this man and believing he is Jesus.

Jack and I were talking about divine healing. He said "Mom, you know why God can heal bones?" I said, "Why?" He said "Because he made bones. He knows how they work." I'm thinking duh! Why didn't I think of that? What? Ask the maker how to fix the thing that's broken. What a concept:) Out of the mouths of babes...

I asked Jack if someone was going to disciple him what would be an important thing for them to know. Without skipping a beat he said "To know God and to Love God!" Enough said:)

One Liners from God

Following are a few of the one-liners the Lord has spoken to me through the years that have dramatically changed my walk and my life.  I hope they speak to your spirit and encourage and bless you - and possibly change you:)

1.     “We’re going to work on you!” –Romans 3:²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, - Imagine that.  When I started my walk with the Lord I wanted to point out all of George's flaws.  The Lord told me "No, we're going to work on you!  If George never changes, you need to!"  Ouch!  That hurt.  But that was one of the best things he's ever said to me.

2.     “There’s no such thing as a justified attitude” – Love your enemy; love your neighbor; love your wife; honor your mother and father; respect your husband - The Lord used this one on me when I thought it was okay for me to walk around self-righteous with my attitudes, excusing my behavior because others had hurt me.  Guess I was wrong again.

3.     “Love what you can love about them” – Philippians 4:8-9⁸ Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. ⁹ The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you. --  The Lord gave me this instruction for those people in my life who were not going to go away - my family - This made it easier to walk in love and share my Jesus with those who had hurt me. 

4.    “Don’t enable them to do what I don’t want them to do” – Luke 11: ⁵² “Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered.” -  This is what gave me permission to say "No" to people who I wanted to help, but didn't feel led to help.  It really lifted the burden.  The Lord didn't want me to hinder what he was going to do with them and their current situtation.  Many times we try to catch people before they fall so they never hit their knees.  Not always such a good idea. 

5.    “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” – Genesis 18:14  Anytime I feel overwhelmed, the Lord reminds me of this scripture.  Awesome! 

6.    “If I sent my son to die for you, what wouldn’t I do for you?” – John 3:16 For God so loved the world he sent his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life. (Parted the red sea, wiped out your enemies and you’re worried I won’t feed you?--silly girl)  The Lord uses this on me everytime I needlessly worry - which is anytime Iworry. 

7.    “They can’t undo the work I sent you to do” –  1 Corinthians 3:12-14 ¹² Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, ¹³ each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. ¹⁴ If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward.  Sometimes you do a job and then people squash or destroy the good work you do.  The Lord told me this after I left a job and he made me realize it wasn't about the job they hired me to do but about the job he sent me to do.  Imagine that, it wasn't about me...

8.    “They don’t appreciate what I’ve done for them, what makes you think they’re going to appreciate what you do” – 1^st Corinthians 1:18 [Christ the Power and Wisdom of God ] For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.  This helps me anytime I feel like people don't appreciate when I try to help or the squander the help that's been given to them.  It stops me from complaining -- because who could argue with that -  I could never compare what I do to what the Lord did. 

9.    “If you’re okay with God, you’re okay” - Matthew 10:28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.  Many times people talk about us behind our backs and it hurts.  This has been a powerful statement in my life.  That if I'm okay with my maker, I'm okay.  Their discontent is on them.

10.  “For my growth and His glory” –Romans 5:3-5³ And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; ⁴ and perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵ Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.  1Corinthians 10: ³¹ Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. This is how I choose to live my life.  I want every decision, every action and every circumstance to grow me and glorify my father.  No matter what is going on with me or my family -- I believe God's growing us and that he turns all things for good for those who love him.  Awesome!