THaNksGiviNG Thursday...It Is Well

"It is good to praise the Lord and make music to your name, O Most High, proclaiming your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night."

Psalm 92:1-2

I am deeply thankful for worship music.  It is what inspires me to be in the right mindset, it motivates me, it uplifts and encourages me, it brings me peace, and it gives me reason to give thanks and praise to God for all He has done and even what He has not done in my life.  If there's something you're in need of right now, turn on some worship music.  Let the Spirit fill you and guide you.  Most importantly, if anything, allow yourself to simply worship the Lord.  He is worthy of it.  

To give you a place to start, here is Kristene DiMarco & Bethel Music with "It is Well"... 

May God keep you always in His perfect peace.

Directed Steps

"A person’s steps are directed by the Lord. How then can anyone understand their own way?"

~Proverbs 20:24

When my friend Amy and I got off the plane and through customs at the San Jose del Cabo airport in Baja California Mexico, we didn't know what to expect.  We just knew we had to find the exit and a ride to our resort.  We had gone through our last checkpoint and started walking only to realize we did not know where we were going.  There weren't any signs.  

We entered a section of the airport that I would name, if given the opportunity, "Beware: White Overload and Vultures."  This was the only way to go.  So signs or not, we were heading in the right direction.  The "vultures" were timeshare salesmen and women.  They were lined up in a row (behind the counters and in front of them) on either side of us from the moment we stepped into this section until the moment we actually exited out of the doors of the airport, and everything was white.  The walls, the floors, the counters were all white, and, again, there were zero signs to give direction or explanation.  It was all overwhelming and intimidating to say the least.

It's so easy to feel lost and confused without direction.  Satan stands by and waits to devour us at our most vulnerable moments.  Meanwhile, God is there already at work directing our steps.  He's just waiting for us to follow Him.  Sometimes we hesitate because we are unsure about where He's taking us.  Sometimes we refuse because we are afraid.  Sometimes we decide to go our own way because then we at least know and understand and have control over the direction we are heading.  But if we were to let go of the need to understand, face our fears, and step out on faith to follow God, then we would discover a life worth living for and many beautiful things we wouldn't have otherwise experienced.  

Amy and I did make out of the airport and safely to our resort.  God put the right people in our path to help us, including one of the "vultures" who set us up for a shuttle ride and who failed to win us over with his sales pitch. We had an amazing time in Cabo, and I know that if I were to fly there again, I would be so much more confident walking through the "White Overload and Vultures" section.  My advice to you is to not let uncertainty, fear, or confusion to keep you from following God's plans for you.  He is good.  All the time.  Trust Him and see where He takes you!

Truth.Love.Hope.

Here’s the truth.  I love deeply.  I’m not ashamed until I’m shamed, and when you love deeply, the wounds are deeper when your love is rejected.  It’s hard to recover from such wounds.  It feels some days like they’ll never heal.  But I don’t lose hope. 

Hope has been my one constant friend.  Hope has wrapped its arms around me in the deepest despairing moments of my life.  Hope has shone its brilliant light in the darkest corners.  Hope hands me the key to unlocking the courage to love once more. 

Thankfully, we all have a God who loves deeply.  Not only that, He is Hope.  He is a healer of wounds.  He binds up the brokenhearted.  He fills in those deep, hidden places with His love where human love cannot reach. He gives us the power, acceptance, and affirmation we need to feel strong, secure, and worthy. 

There’s someone out there who needs my deep love and who will return it just as deeply.  There’s someone who won’t be afraid of this kind of love because it takes only the bravest of souls.  There’s someone who won’t hold back, who will take risks, and who will not be ashamed to love deeply. There is someone.  I know it.  I have Hope.

“And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.”

~Romans 5:5

Failure Impossible

 "For no word from God will ever fail." 

~Luke 1:37

It is impossible for God to fail. (Hallelujah!)  What He promises, He gives.  What we fail to do is remember and trust.  We search for ways to make His word work for us.  We use Him like a wish-granting genie.  We fit Him into our lives only when it's convenient.  We fail time and time again to make God "God" over us.  And yet, He waits.  He waits to fulfill His promises to us.  He waits to show us His everlasting love.  He waits to prove to us that while we might fail, He never does.  

What we can do and should do is wait on Him.  He is everything we need.  He is good.  He is love.  He is.  

Therefore, wait.  "For no word from God will ever fail" (Luke 1:37).  So while you wait, read His Word and BELIEVE. TRUST. OBEY. Good things really do come to those who wait.

SuMMeR ReaDiNG

One of my favorite aspects of summer time is that I get to read for pleasure!  I read a lot during the school year, but it is all for the purpose of teaching.  In the summer I get to read for the purpose of enjoyment, entertainment, and enhancement.  Here are the 12 books that are on my summer reading list (mostly because they've been sitting by my bedside tempting me throughout the school year!):

1. Love Comes Softly by Janette Oke
2. Paper Towns  by John Green
3. The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
4. Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
5. Shoot the Moon by Billie Letts
6. The Pilot's Wife by Anita Shreve
7. Plainsong by Kent Haruf
8. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski
9. The Distant Hours by Kate Morton
10. She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb
11. The Success Principles: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be by Jack Canfield*
12. In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day: How to Survive and Thrive When Opportunity Roars by Mark Batterson*

*Not pictured in the stack are two books that I have on my Kindle app and that I have begun already reading.  

I can hardly wait to devour these books!  What's on your reading list?

Submission Strengthens

"Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  Come near to God and he will come near to you."

~James 4:7-8

Submit. Eek...that's a tough word to swallow, even tougher to do.  But if a sunflower didn't submit itself to the sun, then it would never bloom.  Likewise, if we do not submit ourselves to the Son, then we will never fully bloom. Submit yourselves, then, to God...

Submission is not weakness.  Submission strengthens.  It strengthens the bond I have with God when I submit to Him.  It strengthens a husband to his wife.  It strengthens a parent to his child.  It strengthens a teacher to his student.  It strengthens an employer to his employee.  Submission strengthens.  

This morning God woke me up at 4:00.  I know it was God because I do not get up willingly at 4:00.  My alarm was not set to go off for another hour, but there I was, wide awake.  Did I submit to God and get up?  Nope.  I sadly rolled over in bed and convinced myself it was too early and there was nothing I could do anyway at that ridiculously early hour; and so, I fell back asleep.  

Had I submitted to God at that hour by getting up and spending time with Him, I most likely would have had enough Spiritual fuel to get me through today.  I most likely would've been a little less stressed.  I most likely would've been more prepared and less rushed.  I most DEFINITELY would have been strengthened.  

I'll never know about what could've happened today because I did not submit.  I will, however, think twice before rolling over again.  No doubt I'll be tested on this.  But whether I am or not, I do know that when God calls me to submit to Him, I must do as He asked.  If I ever want to become stronger in my relationship with God, then I must submit.  Likewise must you.  To become fully bloomed, submission strengthens us in the fullness of Him.

FaiTH.

"Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see."

~Hebrews 11:1

It is not enough to say, "I believe in God."  Do I truly believe God?  Do I trust His character?  Do I believe He is who He says He is?  Do I really rely on Him at all times and in all circumstances?  Do I have the kind of faith that not only can say to a mountain, "Go throw yourself into the sea," but also can believe the mountain will actually throw itself into the sea? (Matthew 21:21) I wish I could say I did.

The good news is that Jesus is the author AND perfecter of our faith. (Hebrews 12:2)  I don't need to have perfect faith.  I need to have Jesus.  How do I have Jesus? By faith.

Hmmm...so you see this is all connected.  The more I have Jesus, the more faith I have.  And the more faith I have, the more shield (Psalm 3:3) I have to counterattack the enemy and ward against his fiery darts of lies, doubts, and fears. 

So, it isn't enough to say, "I believe in God."  I have to take up and step behind that belief.  I have to act.  Someday, who knows?  Maybe you'll see a mountain in a sea and you'll wonder if it got there by someone's faith...someone like me.