And…the Brave
For a four year old the shallow end of the pool is safe, but the deep end, forget it.
The shallow end is where we want our lives to be – safe, familiar, nothing we can’t handle. In this life, before we know it, something tosses us into the deep end and we come up crying out – Help!
While the four year old will eventually learn to swim and enjoy cannon balling off the side, rare is the person who welcomes life’s trials. Yet there is purpose in everything – and all those times we have to fight like crazy to come up for air, to reach the side so we can hang on – they develop in us real faith.
Not the faith that says ‘Sure, I believe in God. A loving God would never let __________ happen (you fill in the blank).’
But the kind of faith that says ‘Yes, I believe in God, whatever happens He will be right there with me.’ This kind of faith not only helps the believer through those deep end times, but those who are watching from the shallow end will want to know the source of that bravery.
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.” (Ephesians 2:8 NIV) A gift from God – on our own we will cling to the wall in the shallow end never wanting to increase our faith in Him. But life has a way of either increasing our faith as we trust Him, or proving we never believed Him in the first place.
I spent over a year writing Living Braver – I learned it’s not so much about overcoming fear (unfortunately fear is right here with us) – it’s about being willing to take one brave step at a time with God and learning He truly does see us through. I don’t like the challenges and heartaches anymore than the next person, but I want to come through them not just gasping for air. I want to pull up out of the side of the pool and have a heart full of trust.
The home of the brave is in the arms of Jesus. Our home is not here, this is our temporary place. We love it, we live it, we wrestle with it, it ends. But for the believer, the brave soul being carried by Jesus, the end here is the beginning of forever.
Charles Spurgeon said: “Little faith will take your soul to heaven, but great faith will bring heaven to your soul.” Our faith is made great during the trials of life producing in us a joy that’s hard to express but that everyone can see. For this is not all there is and our soul rejoices in heaven now and forever…
Of the Free…
Freedom? An ideal, a wish, a reality?
It is hard in a world bent on pleasing self to find true freedom. Whether under a tyrannical government or being a citizen of a country like America, if we define freedom by human reasoning or ideals then that freedom could be fleeting.
But there is lasting freedom.
Jesus tells all who hold to His teaching “Then you will know the truth, and truth will set you free…So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:32, 36 NIV)
Man’s laws, constitutions, leaders, rules, courts are not where freedom is found or lost. We can be locked away in a cell and be freer than the millionaire in his high rise office. It is said freedom comes at great cost. How true that statement. Our freedom cost Jesus His life, God His Son. But oh what freedom we have.
“I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts.” (Psalm 119:45 NIV) Many see ‘religion’ as the ultimate loss of freedom – I couldn’t agree more. Religion is manmade and full of fallible do’s and don’ts. But God didn’t call us to religion. He called us to follow.
Following Christ leads to us ‘walking about’ in freedom. It is freeing to know that whatever hardships we may have in this life, someday is waiting where hardships don’t exist. It is freeing to know that though we may struggle here, someday we shall be in want no more.
Someday – the ultimate hope of every follower of Jesus. Hope that does not disappoint, hope that sets us free. Free from selfish ways that lead to the detriment of others, from selfish ways that ultimately wind up being our demise. Free to find joy here in the midst of the worst storm, free to spread love even to our enemies.
Others will counter that God’s Word is full of commands, how is that freedom? Yet it’s the perfection of His ways that are our freedom. In choosing not to lie or steal I am free from guilt. In choosing not to commit adultery I am free from the anguish of wounding another.
“I run in the path of Your commands, for You have set my heart free.” (Psalm 119:32 NIV) Will we live perfectly? Not in this lifetime, but when we run in the path of His commands there is freedom for our souls for we are choosing to truly live in the land of the free.
***If you stopped by because you read my devotion today over at Encouragement Cafe, WELCOME! So glad you are here!***
Passing It On…
Filled, overflowing – do you ever feel ‘filled up’ – the satisfying kind?
Like when the skies are blue, no one is in crisis, and you sigh contentedly? That’s my moment right now. We all know in this world that ‘feeling’ can change in the blink of an eye.
But will we embrace those moments no matter how fleeting? Lifting eyes to God to thank Him. Letting smiles lead the way, for now. Knowing that someday it will always be like that. Making note of all that is good, and choosing to, ever so briefly, push back the bad. To glimpse our forever in the presence of Jesus.
This is not just for us, this is to be passed on.
“Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.” (Romans 12:13 NIV) Maybe our Lord had more in mind as he prompted Paul to share those words. We may take ‘need’ to mean food, clothing, money. But what is our real need?
To know Him more and more. “And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,” (Colossians 1:10 NIV)
To trust Him more and more. “…being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience,” (Colossians 1:11 NIV)
To live for Him more and more. “…and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.” (Colossians 1:12 NIV)
To let our joy show on the outside can speak volumes to a longing soul. Rejoicing in the knowledge that when all is not smiles, it will be someday. Passing this knowledge on can fill the need of a deep hurt.
Paul, who wrote most of the New Testament, started almost every letter with some form of “grace and peace to you” – this in the midst of persecution from those who once embraced him, in the midst of a physical ailment, in midst of being in jail, and many other trials. He passed on what was most important: “that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” (1Corinthians 15:3b-4 NIV)
Pass it on…
***If you stopped by because you read my devotion today over at Encouragement Cafe, WELCOME! So glad you are here!***
Sharing Living…
Sharing – that’s what this life is all about.
From early on we’re told ‘Share your toy, your candy, what you have’. Then somewhere along the way the message changes ‘Be frugal, don’t waste your resources, be careful who you share with’.
What if the voice we listened to was the Author of giving? Jesus told his closest companions what to do with the good news: “Freely you have received, freely give.” (Matthew 10:8b NIV) We have the same good news – and we have a life story to tell to illustrate it.
We’ve walked the hard roads for a reason. Not to wish they weren’t so or to hide them. To share them and how the great God of mercy held us.
We’ve walked the joy roads not so we could feel blessed, but that we could bless. To tell of the riches of a King who lavishly loves us.
“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal gory that far outweighs them all.” (1Corinthians 4:17 NIV)
Our roads intersect – nothing is coincidence. We meet the physically challenged, the widow, the single mom, the financially strained, the unattractive, the sick, the wounded – all because God has seen us through some of those same trials. Will we give hope to a hurting soul?
We’ve seen glorious sunsets, felt waves wash sand from under our toes, smelled roses heavy with perfume. We’ve been loved, cared for, blessed in many ways. A taste of our hope – which is eternity in the presence of a God who loves without reservation. An eternity that our finite minds can’t begin to conceive. This is the hope we share.
“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (2Corinthians 4:18 NIV)
Sharing Living is sharing our lives – the good, bad, and the ugly. It’s sharing what is a gift in the first place – all good things we have come from God. Our money, time, strength, and most of all the good, make that great news.
Learning Living…
Sometimes you just have to be quiet to hear.
That’s hard for me. You? I’m busy even when I’m not busy. If I’m sitting, I’m kicking my leg or tapping my feet. Sit still? Be quiet? It’s sounds great, but that old saying ‘Busy hands are happy hands’ must have gotten hold of me and not let go.
Psalm 139:23 NIV says: Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
The writer of that plea was on to something. Granted God can search me and know me even when I’m not being quiet. But how can I hear what He is trying to tell me in all of my noise? Words He wants me to know about my heart condition, words He wants me to know about my anxious thoughts. Words of healing spoken only by a still, quiet voice to my heart. Sometimes through just a feeling, sometimes through His Word I’m reading, sometimes through someone who loves me and cares for me.
Psalm 139:24 NIV goes on to say: See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
There are offensive ways in all of us. But it’s uncomfortable to acknowledge them and sometimes painful to make changes. But I would rather be led in the way everlasting than stuck in my offensive ways. But how can I be led if I’m busy going my own way? To be led I must be willing to surrender my ways to better ways, His ways. Everlasting means towards our for always destination. That is where I want to be on the road to.
So this life of learning leads me to a knowledge that though I can’t completely grasp it, I can rest and be quiet in the comfort of it: You hem me in – behind and before; you have laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. (Psalm 139:5-6 NIV) Only if I give a few moments of quiet each day can I rest in the assurance of His surrounding me at all times and in all ways.
Healing Living…
Getting sick is never fun. I’m one of the fortunate ones who rarely gets ill. But this year has been a little different.
In February – the flu. In March I hurt my back. This past month I came down with some unknown bug.
There has been healing during each of these events. But the kind of healing that has really made a difference hasn’t been physical.
“Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for You are the One I praise.” (Jeremiah 17:14 NIV)
First, I’m a do-it-myselfer. I found out I actually can’t sometimes. Next I’m a helper-outer but not one to be helped. I found out I need help sometimes. Life lessons have been learned from concerned phone calls, hot soup dropped off, and timely nursing advice right when I needed it. Again the lessons were more for heart healing than my body healing.
“A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” (Proverbs 17:22 NIV) Especially when the cheer is in your own heart, but also when it’s delivered by the cheerful heart of a concerned friend.
Receiving and not pushing back is a gift to God. Why? Because the gifts we get, whether they are a sympathetic ear or a floor mopped, are given from loving hearts serving God in the way they were gifted. And they are God’s way of ministering to us through those who love Him. When I’ve deceived myself and replied “Oh no, I’m fine, don’t need a thing”, I’ve denied someone else the opportunity to use their God given gift. And I’ve missed out on a blessing of receiving Him through one who loves Him.
The key to it all is the very last part of the verse above from Jeremiah ‘for You are the One I praise.’ We don’t inhabit perfect bodies and age and elements take their toll. In the midst of these illnesses or mishaps we may not feel much like praising. There’s an old song that goes like this: Love Him in the morning when you see the sun arising; Love Him in the evening ’cause He took you through the day. And in the in-between time when you feel the pressure coming, Remember that He loves you and He promises to stay. (by John Fischer) Praise & Glory to the One who stays with us!
Hope Living…
“Blessed is the one who perseveres and does the hard things. Tough times never last but those who hang tight to God always do.” Ann Voskamp
Our hearts know we have a living Hope, God’s word assures us this is so. So we ‘hang tight’ to God. “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints,” (Ephesians 1:18 NIV)
But there’s more…Living Hope is what we have – it is also what we do. Live hope – for all to see, and to remind ourselves to persevere.
Sometimes easier said than done, right? It is very possible that the reason we sometimes feel unfulfilled, feel as though no one understands us, or even feel our efforts are useless – is to point us towards the Father. Isn’t it true, that if everything were just rosy, we would quickly dismiss our need beyond self and miss altogether the hope of eternity where trials are no more?
Living hope then is proclaiming that despite what’s happening, how we’re feeling, and especially when things aren’t rosy that we still trust, still wait, still hope. And doing it in such a way that it sets us apart, that others desire to have that same hope.
I love child like hope. Little ones get into a bag of charcoal or a muddy puddle, have a grand time, and turn around with the biggest smile lifting grubby arms to you. Lost in the joy of what is and never worrying what will be. What’s past is past, what’s to come is unknown, today – this moment – find the joy, live the hope. Turn your biggest smile heavenward and lift your arms to the One who delights to see you lost in trust and waking to Him.
“But as for me, I will always have hope; I will praise You more and more.” (Psalm 71:14 NIV)
Grace…
Grace started with a simple gift. A flag made by a happy crafter and given by a gentle friend. I loved it the minute I laid eyes on it.
A month or so later the new year was approaching and a friend said ‘Have you ever had a ‘word’ for the year?’ Not having any words to answer she told me that sometimes God gives us a word for the year, a word to permeate us, a word to live by, a word to grow by.
As I thought about it, the little flag caught my eye. Grace called to me.
In the past five or so months I’ve learned more about grace. Grace is a husband who doesn’t point out shortcomings and loves me more each day. Grace is a friend whose known me so long there are no secrets and loves me regardless. Grace is a friend who gave a grace flag and not too long after went home to be with the Lord. Grace is children who had an imperfect mom, yet on mother’s day sent love in many forms. These are all grace, but there is more.
I am to be grace as well. Grace to let a misdeed not make me react in anger. Grace to not judge by appearances. Grace to look beyond struggles with an eternal perspective. Grace to let others be wrong and not point it out. Grace to be wrong and not be ashamed. Grace to not define myself or others by our pasts.
How can it be? How can all this grace, any of this grace be real? Only, only because I am Grace-Full. The Creator of grace has bestowed upon me, and you, all grace. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.” (Ephesians 2:8 NIV)
And so as this year of ‘grace’ proceeds I can be confident of this “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” (2Corinthians 9:8 NIV)
I am Grace-Full – not because of me. Only because the God of all grace fills me and as I seek to model His grace, maybe, just maybe, it will overflow to another soul.
Always A Better Day…
“Tomorrow will be a better day, because it doesn’t depend on me, my tomorrow rests with You.” Susie Teramura
When I read this quote, perspective came.
No matter how good today is, tomorrow will be better. No matter how bad today is, tomorrow will be better. Why? Because each day we are one step closer to that ‘no more tears, no more sorrow’ eternity. And because each day, today and tomorrow, do rest with the Lover of our souls.
Lately I’ve gotten wrapped up in the fact that I have to make time each day to stretch my back out, ice my back, be careful with my back. Perhaps for you it’s having to watch the budget super close, or make trips to the hospital, or care for an elderly parent, or make due with a not so good car, or fill-in-the-blank. That is how it is with us who are to be selfless, yet self-full is often more like it.
God in His wisdom reminds us: “Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.'” (James 4:14 NIV)
A mist that appears for a little while – truly it seems one day we were twenty-something and the next we’re fifty-something. How much more meaningful our todays when spent noticing all the blessings and trusting regardless of the woes. And how much more meaningful our tomorrows when we start off talking about them with the phrase ‘Lord willing’.
In light of eternity these days are a mist, yet eternity is not be marked by time, but by joy. And we are able to declare: “Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders you have done. The things You planned for us no one can recount to You; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare.” (Psalm 40:5 NIV)
Tomorrow rests with God, so today we should rest in Him…with Him it’s always a better day!
The Great Exchange…
Sometimes we bring home something that doesn’t work out as expected. Maybe it’s clothing that just didn’t fit right after all. Maybe it’s a new plumbing piece that wasn’t the right shape. Sometimes it’s food that had gone bad but we didn’t know til we got home.
Next comes bringing it back to the store. Usually we exchange it for a better fitting, right shape, unspoiled item – sometimes just get our money back. But the exchange is usually even.
The exchange Jesus made wasn’t exactly even. He gave up perfect eternity to step into time with all it’s restrictions. He gave up the presence of the Father to step into the presence of fallen man. He gave up perfection for a frail frame that has an expiration date.
What an unwavering love. You, me – what we deserved was to pay the price for our deeds. What we got was the perfection of God in the flesh. A selfless act of the Creator stepping into His creation to exchange what only He could give for all that needed to be forgiven.
This would be like me taking back a dress I wore, got stains all over, and tore the hem as I stepped into it. “I’m bringing back this messed up dress, I would like a brand new one in return and I would like this one that costs even more.” Hmm, don’t think the store would go for that.
Maybe I bring back a sack of grapes that I ate half of and let the other half sit in the hot sun. “These grapes are no good anymore, I need a sack of new ones in exchange for these.” Umm, no don’t think I would get that either.
But that is what our sin does to us. It stains us, it tears us, we become as rotting fruit. But a God of boundless love says ‘It’s a great exchange. I will give my perfect, sinless Son for you.’
The Great Exchange… When the Father looks at me now He does not see my shortcomings, my ugly times, my defiance. He sees the Son who cupped my chin and said ‘It is finished, I have done this for you because you are so valuable to me.’
“Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” (Ephesians 5:1-2 NIV)
parisrenae 