Who To Turn To

O Lord, I am oppressed, be my security. Isaiah 38:14b (New American Standard Bible)

Oppression is a deep feeling of heaviness brought on by the enemy of our soul. Many experience it in the form of depression, anxiety, or emptiness. I have heard people speak of depression as a deep, dark pit. Their whole world is dark and they feel entirely alone. While many of us may never experience that degree of depression we all know the feeling of sadness, weightiness, emptiness, and just being down.

Times like that use to scare me. I didn't know how long they'd last and I couldn't seem to see a way out. I couldn't even tell someone what brought the feelings on. Sometimes it was external things and sometimes it was internal.

I often found myself looking for something or someone to lift me up ~ alter my mood. Friendships were usually my main rescuers. Hearing from or spending time with a significant person could give me at least a momentary "high" to avoid dealing with the ache within me. The problem was, friends were not always available and what I could get from them was a temporary fix at best. It was like putting a band-aide on a deep wound.

It wasn't until I learned to express the pain to God and ask Him to meet the need that I truly began to experience freedom and relief. The realization that He was always available and willing to minister to me in this way has become something I highly treasure.

He used my own emptiness and attempts to deaden the pain to show me my faulty reasoning and inadequate sources. I realized external sources (be they friends, books, music or activities) could not do the internal work in me that was necessary.

When this truth dawned on me I voiced the most simple yet profound life changing prayer that blew the roof off my journey. It wasn't a long prayer but it was effective. I simply cried out, "God, I am empty. Please fill me with Yourself." It was than that I finally felt the arms that had been open and calling to me all along. I cannot tell you how much this has impacted me and transformed my inner world but I can say it works!

Father, You have been calling to me for decades. Thank you for never allowing things or people to give me what only You can give. I feel like I am coming home and it feels good. Amen.

Draw Me Close to You - Michael W. Smith
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEHsrgDCaeo

Fixing my eyes on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of my faith!

Feelings Versus the Truth

For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. Proverbs 23:7 (New King James Version)

Just under a week ago, I asked God to show me what was wrong with me. For some reason, I was not connecting with some basic truths and I did not know what that reason was. Truth was making its way into my head but not affecting my life. Struggles were still struggles. Issues were still issues. I felt like I was standing still in certain areas of my life. I couldn’t figure it out so I turned to the One who could.

Recently I have been reading a book by Neil Anderson entitled Who I Am In Christ. As I read that I was called, chosen, forgiven, redeemed, and so forth, the words remained just words to me. I wanted them to be life changing but they remained distant and foreign sounding, until I read a sentence that caused the light to finally come on. He wrote that he often asks a person who is struggling to forgive how the other person’s actions made him feel. It is essential for us to see the necessity of knowing that, for how we feel is what we perceive ourselves to be. What we perceive is what we eventually believe to be true about ourselves and what we believe to be true is what we will act upon. People will always act out of what they believe to be true about themselves.

It was then that I looked back and saw that with each heartache, hurt, disappointment, and loss, I felt a certain way and saw myself in a certain way. What I often saw was a person who was worthless, unlovable, unwanted, and disgusting. What I thought to be true became truth to me. My answer was often to find someone who could make me feel differently about myself and that was a futile search. What I am now realizing is that how I feel does NOT determine what or who I am. God determines that and His Word is full of the real truth! When I began to see what God was saying about me, all the lies began to lose their grip.

My feelings and emotions will never be trustworthy sources for me. If given the chance they will always paint a false picture. I have spent too many years of my life believing the false pictures and am finally being impacted by the portrait God has painted. This is a turning point for me. This is profound and life changing. Many have tried to tell me what God has finally helped me to understand. As with any spiritual truth, until God opens our eyes and ears we remain blind and deaf.

Father, I have thought the worst of myself and believed every lie. Thank you for helping me to see what my problem was. I see the truth and it is setting me free. Praise You! Amen.

Who Am I? - Casting Crowns
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqKp314B8DM&feature=related

Fixing my eyes on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of my faith!

A Pattern for Prayer

Then Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD. Isaiah 37:14 (New American Standard Bible)

Distressing news comes to all of us at one time or another. What we choose to do with it reveals much about our walk and relationship with God. It reveals what we believe about God's character. I love the fact that Hezekiah took a threatening letter he had received and literally spread it out before God and then proceeded to proclaim the truth about God. What a pattern of prayer in the midst of a storm! (Isaiah 37:15-20)

Just think of the many papers we could spread out before God each day. Mounting bills, emails, our children's report cards, newspaper articles, legal matters, lab results, etc... To then use Hezekiah's prayer as a starter for our own. I notice that his first words proclaim the truth about God. He is the true God. He is the Creator. None compare to Him. None come close. He then spells out the problem to God. Like David so often did in the Psalms, Hezekiah asked for God to open His ears and eyes to his situation. It was true the Assyrians had destroyed other nations but they had yet to fight the true and living God.

Hezekiah's request for deliverance does not surprise me. He is smart to ask God to do what his nation is unable to do. What grabs my attention as I read his prayer is the reason he wants God to intervene...so all the nations will know He alone is God!

It should be no different in each of our lives. God desires our lives to be a platform for His power and identity. As we face trials, difficulties and hardships we show the world that God is our strength, sustainer, and security. I find Scripture is full of prayers that ask God to move mightily on behalf of His children. And He did! It is time we took these prayers and allowed them to once again be spoken to a living God. Spoken over our situations. Spoken over our families. Spoken over our lives.

Father, may I see that You are the same God who was moved to act on behalf of Your children. Empower me to bring requests to You with boldness and assurance. You are still God! Amen.

What a Faithful God - Robert Critchley
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLEgyKpzyUw&feature=related

Fixing my eyes on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of my faith!

Under His Wings and In His Arms

The eternal God is your refuge and dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms; He drove the enemy before you and thrust them out, saying, Destroy! Deuteronomy 33:27 (Amplified Bible)

My last words to God last night just before falling asleep were, “Hold me.” His words that greeted me this morning were found in today’s verse. A reminder that He is my refuge and dwelling place. His everlasting arms are my safety net. “Hold me” is simply my way of asking Him to make me more aware of His presence, protection, and provision.

When Jesus told His disciples, “I will never leave you or forsake you,” the words were meant for me as well. When God told Joshua, “Fear not, for I am with you,” He meant those for my ears as well as Joshua’s ears. It is essential that each of us learns to appropriate God’s Word for ourselves and our situations. Do we need a refuge when life gets overwhelming? Absolutely. Do we need a place to resort to when we are warn and weary? Definitely. Do we need someone to help us drive out the enemies that would seek to hinder and block our way on the journey? Most assuredly. God is all of that and more.

For any who were left to fend for themselves through the mine fields of childhood, these words are life. They are pregnant with security and safety. They fill the empty and shaky places in us that need an anchor. If we are a child of God, then we have His invitation to come to Him at any time to rest in His arms. Not our own arms. Not the arms of flesh we might seek in a friend. His arms.

I need Him to be my refuge and dwelling place in times of weakness and failure. In times of feeling at odds with myself. In times when my steps become cumbersome or moving forward seems to cease. He knows I am but a vessel of clay and yet it is a vessel He wants to mold and shape for His glory. No need to cringe at the things I see in myself because He knows this lump of clay intimately. He remains limitless in my limitations. Strong in my weakness. Consistent in my inconsistencies. Never stepping away. Never unaware. Never absent. Never unavailable. Never distracted. Never not Himself.

Father, I am thoughtful of You this morning and appreciative of Who You are and what You are doing. Help me to sense your eyes and hands on me today. Let me hear all that You whisper to me. Amen.

Power of Your Love
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eA4narr2wyE&feature=related

Fixing my eyes on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of my faith!

Goals or Results?

I will give thanks to You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, and will glorify Your name forever. Psalm 86:12 (New American Standard Bible)

According to Webster’s dictionary, a goal is the end to which an effort is directed. We set goals in order to acquire something that we desire. Often though, our goals are limited and temporary. Once we have the result, we can begin to flounder. I am coming to realize that it is essential to have goals that go beyond a certain result we are looking for. Let me give a few examples.

The goal to lose weight should instead be the goal to live a healthy lifestyle which will result in lost weight and obtained health. The goal to get out of debt should instead be the goal to become a good steward of that which has been entrusted to me which will result in financial freedom. The goal to be free of an addiction should instead be the goal to honor God with my body and mind which will result in the breaking of the hold something has on me. The goal to have friends should instead be the goal of being a friend to others which will result in having friends. Goals need to go beyond getting or getting rid of something.

The Bible is abundant with goals. Today’s verse gives two….to have a thankful heart and to glorify God’s name. Others that come to mind are: to be God’s friend, to know Christ, to walk in obedience, to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind, to acknowledge God in everything, to trust Him, to seek Him diligently, to rejoice in all things, and to pray about everything. If these are my goals, the results will come but they will not simply be an end in themselves.

The freedoms and victory I seek will be the result of having goals that are aligned with Scripture and directed toward God. It is not enough to only want the pain to stop, the loneliness to leave, the approval to come, or the emptiness to be filled. Those are merely the sparkles from the diamonds that exist in the mine of being in relationship with God and making loving and knowing Him my goal.

Father, I have been limited in my goal setting. You have wanted much more for me. Be the One I am fixated on and glorify Yourself. I praise You for what will be the result. I seek You. Amen.

I Exalt Thee - Maranatha Singers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arPrM8RCiyo

Fixing my eyes on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of my faith!

Being a Go-Between

Then He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass. And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes. Matthew 14:19 (New King James Version)

Many have been the times I have entered a room with expectations. Ever on the search for someone to make me feel loved, accepted, valued, and worth knowing. Hungry for having my emotions, soul, and needs of the heart fed through the words and actions of others. Starving for the attention and approval of individuals I may or may not know. In today’s verse, I would have been part of the multitude waiting to be cared for but God desires more.

Jesus wants to place me in the position He placed His disciples. They were simply distributors of the very things He gave them. I have heard it said that we cannot give away what we don’t first possess for ourselves. However, what we do possess we are called to give away as God opens such doors of opportunity. If I walk with an attitude of love, because I am deeply loved by my Father, it will affect my actions, attitudes, and words. It will free me to shift my focus from being on the receiving end of love to being a distributor of love.

What is it I can distribute to others today? Encouraging words that say the things they need to hear. Acceptance and value for who another person is and who God made them to be. Hugs that let someone know they are not only special but appreciated. A look that says, “I notice you and am glad to see you!” Smiles and expressions that bring sunshine into a room instead of a cloud of despair. Simple reminders about God and truths from His Word that will feed their places of spiritual hunger and thirst. The list is endless and the possibilities are profound.

It is not a “give to get” mindset. Too often that hidden agenda is lurking. Rather, it is being in a position to be to others what God has called me to be while allowing Him to be to me what He desires to be. My Identifier. My Supplier. My Provider. My Sustainer. My Caregiver. My God.

Father, I turn my gaze and my expectations toward You. Help me to live my life differently in a position of service between You and others. What You hand me, help me to give to others. What You tell me, help me to share with others. Make me a blessing just for the sake of You and others. Amen.

Create in Me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQVuF84OLag&feature=related

Fixing my eyes on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of my faith!

The Way of Escape

No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it. 1 Corinthians 10:13 (New American Standard Bible)

Nothing is more discouraging or debilitating than a pull in your thoughts or emotions that would seek to take you by the hand and lead you away from a life of faith and joy. Joyce Meyer had it right with the title of her book The Battlefield of the Mind. It is definitely a battlefield. It is also a war zone of the soul. Many fight a silent battle and feel they are losing every time. They are all too familiar with thoughts that not only over whelm them but lead them into black holes of emptiness. It is a place far removed from Jesus’ words that spoke of the abundant life that He would make available to His followers. He wants us to know that it doesn’t have to be like this. None of us have to continue to be casualties of our thoughts that are self imposed or enemy induced. None of us!

It often takes time to realize we are living below God’s standard and desire for our life. Victory and freedom seems out of reach because we are so convinced we just can’t win against the onslaughts of our own mind games. Truth that is meant to set us free often seems ineffective. What is meant to empower us simply adds guilt and condemnation to our daily walk, until we reach a point where we decide enough is enough. Something rises up in us that wants a way out and a walk of change. The pain of living in defeat is finally overcome by the desire to have victory.

Such has been my experience. Many have been the times I have sat in a room full of people and become consumed with thoughts of insignificance, being invisible, not mattering to anyone, and feeling left out of conversations and life. None of those things were true, simply perceptions and feelings driven by emotional needs aching to be met. The temptation to stay in such a pit of darkness has often won out. In desperation, I asked God for help after admitting I could not free myself. His way of escape was clear. His words to me? “When you are tempted to avoid eye contact with others, look them in the eye. When you are tempted to sit in silence and dejection, take part in the conversations. When you are tempted to isolate yourself, enter into the life that is surrounding you.” Does it work? Absolutely! It brings me out of a prison of distance and places me into the joy and blessing of fellowship. This is new for me and I am thrilled by the possibilities it possesses.

Father, how You have longed to show me the way of escape. Forgive me for the countless times I closed my eyes, ears, and heart to Your ways. Now that You have shown me what to do, help me to do it. I trust You and I love You. Amen.

What a Faithful God - Robert Critchley
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLEgyKpzyUw&feature=related

Fixing my eyes on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of my faith!