tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32822441300830841942024-02-20T11:20:10.195-08:00Living Scar-FreeLife can be hard, rough, sticky, and painful. But life is also a beautiful gift, and when used for the glory of God, that joy and strength given to use allows us to live free from the scars life can leave on our lives!Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282244130083084194.post-34114565140152446472010-09-24T15:25:00.000-07:002010-09-24T15:25:59.134-07:00Let's enjoy life today! It's a beautiful fall day, the crispness of the air alludes to the nearness of all things warm and yummy. Hello turkey, hello pumpkin pie, hello hot apple cider and a good book! Hello ripping out my garden and letting it regenerate over the winter! Hello making apple butter, (I'll post the recipe soon!) and Jalapeno Jelly! Ah! In case you haven't guessed, I love food. Let's never be so focused on what we have survived, that we never break out of that survival mode and experience pure joy by letting our worries and fears be carried by an almighty God. It would be a shame to only experience a taste of life, when we could be living abundantly. What will you release into his care today?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282244130083084194.post-80943907616678103952010-09-16T09:31:00.001-07:002010-09-16T09:31:23.125-07:00<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; border-collapse: collapse; white-space: pre-wrap; "> <a href="http://happymoneysaver.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac93/Fistfulofcoupons/happymoneysaver/HappyBUTTON.gif" /></a></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282244130083084194.post-42454210137170093832010-03-05T19:50:00.000-08:002010-03-05T20:01:19.888-08:00<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Times New Roman', fantasy;font-size:6;color:#0000FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"> <!--StartFragment--> </span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Times New Roman', fantasy;font-size:6;color:#0000FF;"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";color:blue">Complicated pain,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>One simple question.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";color:blue"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";color:blue">Faith is being sure of what you hope for and certain of what you do not see.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Heb 11:1.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Faith is a choice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>We must chose to believe what God says, we cannot trust whether we feel like believing or trust what we see occurring around us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>To do so, gives the situation power in our lives, something which we cannot afford if we are to be living scar free lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>As I was working some catastrophic pain in my life, I kept asking God questions. “How is it that it seem like this man who hurt me so deeply and rejected his family is gaining so much of what he wanted and I’m left to pick up the pieces and deal with the back hand slap from life?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>As I worked though these emotions I realized I was giving more weight to my emotions, and what they caused me to perceive, than to what God’s word said.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>God specifically spoke to me through his word.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Each time telling me how the sin people chose and its affect on others is painful, but there is peace and joy in the morning for those who persevere through the pain and destruction; devastation for those who commit the sin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Even more so when they have been exposed to the light of God’s truth and willingly chose to reject it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>But I did not feel like justice was being served.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I wanted justice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I wanted him to hurt like he had willingly and intentionally hurt me, not because of something I did in retaliation, but I wanted the proverbial lightning strike from God, only more painful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>My desire for justice is righteous, however, demanding it of God and allowing my desire for justice to rule my emotions and heart are sins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Sins I’m guilty of. I kept searching scripture and coming to the same conclusions of God’s guaranteed justice and favor for the faithful. However, no matter how many times I read it I didn’t <i>feel </i></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";color:blue">like God was taking any action.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>God finally kept me quiet long enough to speak to me and what he revealed to me changed my perspective dramatically.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>You see, God can tell me about his justice and promise me he’ll never leave me till he’s exhausted all the words in creation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>He can tell me time over and over again but until I chose to believe him I will never win the battle against my emotions.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I have to accept his words as truth, the only truth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Furthermore I must make his truth my reality. If I did not make that choice, I would never let go of my emotional battle for justice that I was inevitably going to loose. To never let go would create deep emotional scarring that would lead to drowning in self-pity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I could never walk away from the trauma or betrayal unscarred if I chose to give my emotions control over my reality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I would carry those scars my entire life, which would result in me closing off a portion of my heart and soul from God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The spiral down continues from that area of my life. I would be calling myself God because I had ultimate authority ruling. Jesus has told us clearly that we can’t serve more than one God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Initially when we are faced with emotional trauma we are in such a state of shock that we don’t look to far ahead down the roads we take.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>To give my emotions power is the natural thing to do, but it leaves an opening for the enemy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>He prowls like a roaring loin, to pounce and lead me farther down the road I didn’t realize I had even started down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>God doesn’t want us to create more pain for ourselves by choosing not to trust him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>But it comes down to me. I had to make the choice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Who do I trust? And more so, how much do I trust him.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>You can’t go half way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>If you do, you’re choosing not to trust. You’ll start down the road that leads to self-sufficiency and rather than finding justice, you’ll be justifying yourself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>You’ll never be whole.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>So do I trust what God says, or do I trust what I see around me? It’s so much easier to put stock in what our emotions dictate to us than accept what can’t see.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>But we must trust it entirely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Accept and trust. Make it your entire reality and hold your emotional state in accountability with it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Only then do we prevent the scars from forming from our wounds. Difficult, but worth it.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>To release the responsibility of justice to God give us freedom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It allows us to be free of the burden of being judge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Nothing is lost from God’s perspective.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>You can be sure that he saw each dagger thrown your way, or the daggers you threw.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>But when we release it into God’s all seeing and capable hands we find forgiveness for our falling short, and a freedom that allows us to move on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>We don’t want to be held captive by the pain that we endure, we want to be healed and free from it so we may have hope once again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>When we finally let go it is a choice that’s made on a moment-by-moment basis. I wish I could simply release it to God and be finished, but I know myself well and I know my enemy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I will be constantly tempted to take ownership of my pain and responsibility for justice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Times I’ll give into the temptation and I’ll need forgiveness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Our faith will be constantly under testing and our faith must be proven genuine (1 peter 1:7).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>This takes time and prolonged exposure to the fire.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It we could simply chose to trust God once for all and never look back our faith would be completed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>But as it is, our faith is constantly growing. In Hebrews 12 it states :</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";color:blue"> <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";color:blue"><b>1</b></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";color:blue"> Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. <b>2</b></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";color:blue"> We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy<sup> </sup>awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";color:blue"> <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";color:blue">Jesus is the author and perfector of our faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Through him we are able to perfect our faith, we’re not expected to never look back and be tempted to believe what we see rather than what we should know.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>But we are expected to look at Jesus when the temptation arises to let our emotions dictate our reality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>He will perfect our faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>So that we can move on from the pain, move on from the hurt and the sin that so easily entangles us so that we may run the race (Hebrews 12:4). God knew we would endure pain and trauma, so he chose to make it productive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Rather than letting it bury us and create additional distance between us and God, He uses it to perfect our faith and close the gap. Life will deal deathblows to our lives. They can either cripple us or we can allow God to use them to build up endurance so that our faith will grow resulting in us becoming perfect and complete.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>In James 1 it states:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";color:blue"> <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";color:blue">Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. <b>3</b></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";color:blue"> For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. <b>4</b></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";color:blue"> So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. <b>5</b></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";color:blue"> If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. <b>6</b></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";color:blue"> But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. <b>7</b></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";color:blue"> Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. <b>8</b></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";color:blue"> Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do. James 1:2-8<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";color:blue"> <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";color:blue"> <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";color:blue">Not only does God give us hope during the disasters life comes with, but he tells us clearly that if we need help, wisdom or understanding he’ll give it to us!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>We don’t need to rely on our own understanding and wisdom, or lack there of, God give it to us generously (vs. 5) but we must believe.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Trust.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Accept.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Just like we must chose to make his truth our reality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>As complicated as life can get, the primary question is simple enough to answer yes or no.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Do you trust God enough to make what he says your reality?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>For many of us the answer is no.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>We can’t let go of the false security of self-reliance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>We are indoctrinated to believe that we must be independent and self sufficient. We’re taught that relying on an outside influence, let alone one we can’t see or control is foolish and a recipe for disaster. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>To choose to believe God takes us completely turning our back on human wisdom.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>But the wisdom of man is utter foolishness to God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It’s all about faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The verse I referenced at the beginning, Hebrews 11:1 is the foundation for living scar-free.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Let’s review it, “Faith is being sure of what you hope for and certain of what you don’t see.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>What do you hope for?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>What in your life is so huge its only God sized?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>What in your life is so small and precious you hold on to it dearly and won’t let go?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Faith is knowing those precious dreams and desires and trusting God to make them happen, in accordance with his will.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>That is where we get hung up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>We could trust God if we would just rely on him to give us what we asked for each time, we can trust predictability.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>What we don’t realize is that while God is not predictable, he is always faithful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>We can rest in total assurance that he will give us everything we need, and our hearts desires when they are what is ultimately best for us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I don’t give my son a dozen cookies just because he wants them,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>it would make him sick and would be unhealthy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>He wants the dozen cookies and can’t understand why I say no.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>He doesn’t see the bigger picture of sugar, nuritition and health.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It’s the same way with God, we can ask all we want but we can rest assured and indeed rest, in the fact that he will only give us what is best for us.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";color:blue">The second part of that verse is “certain of what you don’t see.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>What do we not see happening that we are desperate for?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>What prayers have you been praying that you can’t see being answered?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>What desires do you have that you can’t see being brought to realization.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Faith is the follow through that states “ My God is bigger than what I see at the moment and he is not limited by my circumstances no matter how overwhelming they may be!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Marching onward believing that God will bring into existence what we can’t see is the foundation for that verse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Choosing God’s power to influence your perspective rather than letting what you see determine your reality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>We are called to a higher reality, but choosing that reality is necessary for faith.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>In that short verse lies the foundation for everything we will be discussing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Faith will be the only reality we are called to live in, because outside of faith God is limited, but when we live in faith the power of God in our lives becomes more unlimited than we dare imagine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";color:blue"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <!--EndFragment--> </span><p></p> <!--EndFragment-->Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282244130083084194.post-24260445332981623042010-02-25T13:37:00.000-08:002010-02-25T13:41:08.890-08:00<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";color:blue">I had no idea. Looking back over the past<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>years I still can’t believe I’m where I am today. Simply the awareness of where I was scares me to my core, and the distance from that person, to the person I am is nothing short of<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>a living, breathing testament of God’s grace and love. As you read you, like me, may question that love and grace as circumstances have brought me and perhaps you to the point of meltdown. But you will be encouraged to read of God’s utter faithfulness in the middle of my darkest place, and the proof of how He blesses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>First I’ll begin with my story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The God given wisdom I’m blessed to have is nothing if not seasoned with experience, pain and a harsh dose of reality. But you’ll love the story because it has the best ending.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>And after my story, I’ll share that wisdom in hopes you’ll save yourself a few tears and a whole lot of stress along the road of life we share. Let’s start with a prayer:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";color:blue">Father, wow, I’m humbled to tell the story of life you’ve written for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Let it be useful for your kingdom and bring you glory alone. Let the words you give me find good soil in the hearts of the reader and may your wisdom penetrate their hearts provoking change, forgiveness and grace. I love you. Amen.</span></p> <!--EndFragment-->Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0