I saw God today in a conversation with a client.
It was simple small talk. About Volleyball of all things. My daughter plays. His daughter plays.
He didn't know it, but what he was saying, I needed to hear. To be reminded of.
He was talking about how volleyball is really a "mind" game.
It's more of a battle of the mind, than a physical battle. He was saying that the players who have the ability to regain focus quickly after making an error, are the ones who do the best.
You have to leave it behind, and focus clearly and confidently on what is happening now.
Push the reset button on your brain.
I believe it's the same in life. We can't wallow in negativity. Or constant complaining. Or constant regret.
We need to look for the positive in situations, things to be thankful for instead of things to curse, and fix our minds on that.
The Bible says it like this:
Philippians 4:8
summing it all up friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious, the best, not the worst, the beautiful, not the ugly, things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.
Thankful for the reminder that the enemy wants to steal our joy, and that battle primarily takes place in the mind.
Thankful for the way the Lord spoke to my heart. In a much deeper way than just speaking to me about volleyball.
Thankful that in the middle of doing normal everyday life....I saw God today.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Thursday, September 13, 2012
He Offers His Very Own Presence to cheer and to guide us...
"pardon for sin and a peace that endureth....Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide...."
every once in a while the "ordinary" becomes "extraordinary". The "natural" becomes "supernatural".
Every once in a while, while worshiping, even using a song that I've worshiped with 100 times before, a line will jump off the page and take on new life to me. Like a tall, refreshing drink of water, normal words will refresh my whole being.
That's what happened this past Sunday for me. As I was leading the congregation in the song "Great is Thy Faithfulness"....I got to the part that says, "Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide..."
As I sang that line I was reminded of what had just happened that morning in my quiet time. There had been a couple of things in my life that were disturbing my peace. Greatly. There, in my quiet time, I prayed about those two things, I talked to God about what was bothering me, and then I opened up my Bible and began to read the scripture that went with that days devotion. Lo and behold, God dealt with the two things that were bothering me in the passages of scripture that were opened before me.
How does He do that?
It was seriously as if I asked Him a question....and He answered.
"call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things that you do not know." Jeremiah 33:3
As I sang the line "Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide." I had a renewed gratefulness for his faithfulness. And I thought, "why do we skip quiet time? why do we NOT stop and call upon the Lord?" He offers His very own presence to cheer and to guide us.
So many times while reading HIS Word, it become more than just words on a page, it becomes His embrace.
Give Him the chance to embrace YOU through His word today.
AND, when you worship Him through song, think about what you're singing about, and let Him meet you in the midst of the song.
He inhabits our praises. (Psalm 22:3)
every once in a while the "ordinary" becomes "extraordinary". The "natural" becomes "supernatural".
Every once in a while, while worshiping, even using a song that I've worshiped with 100 times before, a line will jump off the page and take on new life to me. Like a tall, refreshing drink of water, normal words will refresh my whole being.
That's what happened this past Sunday for me. As I was leading the congregation in the song "Great is Thy Faithfulness"....I got to the part that says, "Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide..."
As I sang that line I was reminded of what had just happened that morning in my quiet time. There had been a couple of things in my life that were disturbing my peace. Greatly. There, in my quiet time, I prayed about those two things, I talked to God about what was bothering me, and then I opened up my Bible and began to read the scripture that went with that days devotion. Lo and behold, God dealt with the two things that were bothering me in the passages of scripture that were opened before me.
How does He do that?
It was seriously as if I asked Him a question....and He answered.
"call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things that you do not know." Jeremiah 33:3
As I sang the line "Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide." I had a renewed gratefulness for his faithfulness. And I thought, "why do we skip quiet time? why do we NOT stop and call upon the Lord?" He offers His very own presence to cheer and to guide us.
So many times while reading HIS Word, it become more than just words on a page, it becomes His embrace.
Give Him the chance to embrace YOU through His word today.
AND, when you worship Him through song, think about what you're singing about, and let Him meet you in the midst of the song.
He inhabits our praises. (Psalm 22:3)
Friday, April 20, 2012
but can He calm MY storm?
Mark 4:39He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.40He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
The disciples walked with Jesus, talked with Jesus, lived with Jesus and yet still had trouble understanding just exactly who Jesus was. They certainly didn't understand what having Jesus in their daily lives meant to them. How He could provide and comfort and....
And we forget too.
Even now, after having the Holy Spirit to help us as we study the Word to learn who He is, we still forget, and/or fail to have faith that having Jesus in our lives can beautifully effect our daily lives. That He can also calm the storms in our life as we call on Him.
A few years ago there was a popular Christian song that said, "sometimes He calms the storm, and sometimes He calms the child". That's my prayer in my life as I face storms...
Jesus, either calm this storm, or calm me...and for anyone who reads this today, I pray this for you.
So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the LORD your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you. Deut. 31:6
So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea. psalm 46:2
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
How do I live this life?
I grabbed my coffee, my devotional book, my bible, and I sat down on the couch, closed my eyes and with quiet desperation asked...
"How do I live this life?"
My own negative thoughts rose up within me and answered my own question with these words,
"not very well."
I had been up since 3:37am EST. Worried about everything. I don't typically wake up worried, but due to some current life circumstances, that's where i found myself this morning. Worried.
I opened up my devotional book (currently reading Jesus Calling by Sarah Young) and read this line...
"Peace is my continual gift to you..."
In the stillness of the moment and with my unsettled brain still stirring, I thought,
"You, Lord, offer peace, and yet I choose worry...why is that?"
My brain processed the things that had kept me up and stirring this morning. Mostly worried about how my decisions I'm making today will affect my/our future. Not necessarily bad space to be thinking through, but what i was primarily worried about was...
the future...
I continued reading my devotion....
"Peace flows abundantly from my throne of grace. Just as the Israelites could not store up manna for the future but had to gather it daily, so it is with My peace. The day to day collecting of manna kept My people aware of their dependence on Me. Similarly, I give you sufficient Peace for the present, when you come to me by prayer and petition with thanksgiving. If I gave you permanent Peace, independent of My presence, you might fall into the trap of self-sufficiency. May that never be! I have designed you to need Me moment by moment."
When the Israelites were in the desert, God gave them enough food (manna) for each day. They had to depend/trust Him to give it again the next day. And so it is with peace. I don't have peace for future days yet because those days aren't here yet. So, I accept His peace for today, I trust Him for today, and I know that I can trust Him for tomorrow, and therein lies my peace.
Perhaps worry is a struggle for you too, robbing you of peace.
Trust Him for today. Accept His peace for today. And then do it again tomorrow.
Matthew 6:34 (MSG)
Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.
"How do I live this life?"
My own negative thoughts rose up within me and answered my own question with these words,
"not very well."
I had been up since 3:37am EST. Worried about everything. I don't typically wake up worried, but due to some current life circumstances, that's where i found myself this morning. Worried.
I opened up my devotional book (currently reading Jesus Calling by Sarah Young) and read this line...
"Peace is my continual gift to you..."
In the stillness of the moment and with my unsettled brain still stirring, I thought,
"You, Lord, offer peace, and yet I choose worry...why is that?"
My brain processed the things that had kept me up and stirring this morning. Mostly worried about how my decisions I'm making today will affect my/our future. Not necessarily bad space to be thinking through, but what i was primarily worried about was...
the future...
I continued reading my devotion....
"Peace flows abundantly from my throne of grace. Just as the Israelites could not store up manna for the future but had to gather it daily, so it is with My peace. The day to day collecting of manna kept My people aware of their dependence on Me. Similarly, I give you sufficient Peace for the present, when you come to me by prayer and petition with thanksgiving. If I gave you permanent Peace, independent of My presence, you might fall into the trap of self-sufficiency. May that never be! I have designed you to need Me moment by moment."
When the Israelites were in the desert, God gave them enough food (manna) for each day. They had to depend/trust Him to give it again the next day. And so it is with peace. I don't have peace for future days yet because those days aren't here yet. So, I accept His peace for today, I trust Him for today, and I know that I can trust Him for tomorrow, and therein lies my peace.
Perhaps worry is a struggle for you too, robbing you of peace.
Trust Him for today. Accept His peace for today. And then do it again tomorrow.
Matthew 6:34 (MSG)
Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
So Long World
No, I'm not ending it all. How could I? For even if my body dies, I would live on somewhere. Heaven or Hell.
If I'm going to spend eternity with HIM, then I want to know Him. I want to know who I will be spending the rest of all time with. Yes, I know Him now. But I want to know Him even better!
Which is exactly why I'm saying "so long world". At least for a time. The most important time. My quiet time.
You see, I love techno gadgets. I have a tablet, a 11.6 in cute 'lil laptop (that I love!), and my droid. And I love my Bible app. For a while now I have been doing quiet time with my Bible app, and I love it. I love the ease of looking things up and taking notes and all the things the app offers. The bad part of it is, when I use that, the Lord never has my full attention. If an email comes in, I check it. Or I'm tempted to go on Facebook and see what you all are doing. Or i respond to a text message, or FB chat, or one of the other millions of things out there via the world wide web, that are able to gain my attention.
So, it's back to the basics for me. My Coffee. My devotional book. My Bible. My Jesus.
I will kiss the rest of the world goodbye for this precious quiet time in order to fully embrace the One I love more than any other.
The One who gets me through this life, and hopefully not just enduring it, but living it to the full abundance that He promises when He says, "I came that you might have life, and have it more abundantly."
John 10:10 The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.
How about you? Does He have your full attention? Ever? Those are questions I've been asking myself lately, and am vowing to spend some one on one time with just Jesus and no one else.
So from now on, for my quiet time, it's so long world, Hello Jesus.
If I'm going to spend eternity with HIM, then I want to know Him. I want to know who I will be spending the rest of all time with. Yes, I know Him now. But I want to know Him even better!
Which is exactly why I'm saying "so long world". At least for a time. The most important time. My quiet time.
You see, I love techno gadgets. I have a tablet, a 11.6 in cute 'lil laptop (that I love!), and my droid. And I love my Bible app. For a while now I have been doing quiet time with my Bible app, and I love it. I love the ease of looking things up and taking notes and all the things the app offers. The bad part of it is, when I use that, the Lord never has my full attention. If an email comes in, I check it. Or I'm tempted to go on Facebook and see what you all are doing. Or i respond to a text message, or FB chat, or one of the other millions of things out there via the world wide web, that are able to gain my attention.
So, it's back to the basics for me. My Coffee. My devotional book. My Bible. My Jesus.
I will kiss the rest of the world goodbye for this precious quiet time in order to fully embrace the One I love more than any other.
The One who gets me through this life, and hopefully not just enduring it, but living it to the full abundance that He promises when He says, "I came that you might have life, and have it more abundantly."
John 10:10 The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.
How about you? Does He have your full attention? Ever? Those are questions I've been asking myself lately, and am vowing to spend some one on one time with just Jesus and no one else.
So from now on, for my quiet time, it's so long world, Hello Jesus.
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