He Gives Power and Strength

He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increases power. Isaiah 40:29 (New American Standard Bible)

Scripture is my source of remembering. Today’s verse reminds me in a precious way that when I am in need God will supply the strength and power I lack. In those times when the fight is not in me, He supplies. When I retreat, recoil, and resign, He supplies. When I am giving up and giving in to the very things I most want victory over, He supplies. When my need is great, His supply is abundant. I cling to His promises this morning. They shine upon my recent moments of failure and frustration.

How easy it is to recite and review Scriptural principles when I am feeling on top of it all. Everything at that point makes sense leaving me with an air of a confident conqueror. I play out in my mind how the next testing will be handled. I know the words I will speak, the feelings I will subdue, and the victory I will walk in. It is like a well scripted movie playing out in my mind. I have the lines down pat, all the scenes perfected, and the ending set. It all works well in my mind as I simply wait for the curtain call. Then life happens.

I can tell the moment my pre-planned program begins to unravel. I can tell when the internal shift takes place and the resolve I had determined ahead of time makes a quick exit. As I run into a wall of emotions the fight in me turns to flight and I am left in a heap. Physically I feel as if I am moving in slow motion. Emotionally I feel trapped. Spiritually I feel like a failure. When it is over I look back in disbelief at my decision to give up and not implement the very tools that would be successful ….prayer and scripture.

This morning it makes sense, but this morning the battle is not raging and the emotions are not spiraling. This morning I confess the failures of last night’s battle and determine once again to do better “next time.” With that determination I voice the words, “He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increases power.” In my weariness and lack of might I qualify for His strength and power as promised.

Father, You promise to give me strength and power. I choose to believe You. I choose to receive! Amen.

What Faith Can Do - Kutless
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwDu0IWjoN0

Getting into God's Word and letting God's Word get into me one truth at a time.

Finding My Way Back

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they who indulge in it shall eat the fruit of it [for death or life]. Proverbs 18:21 (Amplified Bible)

If the power of life and death are in the tongue, surely the engine for that power is our mind. The words we choose to use and indulge in are cooked in the kitchen of our thoughts. What we speak and what we think on are vital and result in life or death to our spirit, our circumstances, our outlook, and our internal world.

I’ve seen first hand the killing effect of wrong thoughts and wrong words. My mind gets clouded with negative, hopeless thoughts and the longer I indulge those thoughts the more powerful their grip is. Afterwards I find it hard to believe how dark it gets. I cannot see any positive aspect of my walk with God and that sends me into a place of fear. Fear that all is lost. Fear that the journey I have been on is leading to a dead end. Fear that connection with God is not a reality for me. Fear that I am no better off than I was in the throws of legalism. Fear that I will never get it right or keep it right.

When it passes and I prepare for a new day, I look back on the darkness and I pick out the valuable jewels of truth that are available to me. One truth is that what I choose to think on and accept as believable is what will dim the light in me and cause all to seem dark and lost. I cannot afford to think on what will bring about death to my feelings, emotions, and spirit. When I do I pay a price and the price is enormous. Another truth is that even in my darkness God still has His eye and hand on me. He does not step away during my times of struggle. He does not roll His eyes and say, “Here we go again!” Instead, He begins to woo me back to Himself with full confidence that I will once again find Him. Another truth is that returning to a place of safety with Him is always possible. He does not force me to stay any longer in the darkness than I am willing to stay. It always astounds me that while entering a dark time can be gradual, coming out of it can be so instantaneous.

I cannot get back the time I’ve lost when I lived without the peace and joy God always desires for me. I am, though, the richer for it because of the lessons I have learned. Today I choose to live under the canopy of His love and grace rather than the cloud of regret over past choices.

Father, sometimes it gets dark but You lead me back into the light of Your presence. You calm my fears and settle my heart. I feel the hold You have on me and within that hold I am safe. Amen.

The Protector of My Soul - Maranatha Singers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRyPKdHmwB0

Getting into God's Word and letting God's Word get into me one truth at a time.

What God Declares

For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11 (New American Standard Bible)

In the ordinary days can you hear God whisper these words to you? Plans for welfare, a future, and a hope. He wants you to know they weren’t just meant for the Israelites. They aren’t just meant for people in ministry. They are meant for each of us as His child. I hold on to that truth. My life is ordinary but my God is extraordinary. His thoughts and ways go beyond anything I can think of on my own.

Ministry for Him is not just limited to arenas and events. It is not just public speaking or published writings. If we don’t understand that, we will look at “ministry” people as the only recipients of God’s words through Jeremiah. We will view our own life as somewhat insignificant and unnecessary. We will feel as if our only lot in life is to be over looked and unused.

One of the things I love about the Bible are the many examples of God working through ordinary people living ordinary lives. They had common jobs such as fishing, farming, shepherding, sewing, tent making, and carpentry. Seldom was God’s call on their life even apparent until it unfolded. More often than not, their shining moments were sandwiched between years of faithfulness day in and day out. I keep that in mind as I approach each day. It is my desire to live each day to its fullest and sense God’s delight of me. To do whatever I do with passion and pride for what God allows me to do. To hear His “well done” at the end of each day. To spend each day finding the simple pleasures He has for me. Even on my worst days when I feel like a basket case I can rejoice that at least He has the handle in His hand.

While I don’t know what His plans for my life are, I can spend my life knowing Him better. Just over six years ago I began a journey that changed every aspect of my life and today I can say with confidence that I know Him better than I have ever known Him. I can tell Him things I use to try to hide from Him. I can cry with Him and laugh with Him. I can sing to Him and stand in silent awe of Him. So as He whispers the words of today’s verse to me I am accepting them without reservation.

Father, You know and that is all that matters. Amen.

What the Lord Has Done in Me - Hillsong
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4H6Uv7BI7I&feature=related

Getting into God's Word and letting God's Word get into me one truth at a time.

What to do With the Jealousy

When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children, she became jealous of her sister. So she said to Jacob, "Give me children, or I'll die!" Genesis 30:1 (New International Version)

It comes as no surprise to me that jealousy ruled in the heart of Rachel. When it came time for her to marry Jacob, her sister was given to him in her place. Rachel became the ‘second’ wife. Although she had Jacob’s love, her sister bore the children and she was jealous of her. That jealousy robbed her of the realization of the things she did have and brought about a fierce competition of rivalry, bitterness, and manipulation. It would be all well and good if I could read this account in the Bible and not be able to relate with the jealousy aspect…but that is not the case. I relate with it all too well!

Jealousy is that inner rage that simmers when others have something I want or appear to threaten what I already have. It reveals my insecurities and makes another person my rival. It tells me I am not as loved or of as much value as them. If not admitted, confessed, and conquered it will lead me to behavior that is neither good or godly. In Rachel’s case it was her sister’s ability to bear children while she struggled with infertility. In my case, it is a host of things. When someone has a friend I long to have for myself or is given an opportunity I had hoped for or succeeds in an area I fail at or receives attention I am craving or possesses qualities and talents I can only dream about, the jealousy of my heart awakens. I have no trouble knowing when it hits! If I am not careful, pride and shame will keep me from taking the necessary steps to stop its progression.

For too many years, jealousy opened the door for me to act out in coldness and silent anger toward whoever had what I lacked or desired. Would I admit it? Absolutely not! Not to myself, God, or anyone else. The truth of the matter is that what I refuse to admit WILL keep me in bondage and jealousy has been one such jailer!

When that green-eyed monster attempts to pull me into its all too familiar dungeon I now know what to do! I see my jealousy as the problem rather than others as the problem. I admit it to God and begin reviewing truth about myself and others. I view them as God’s children with wants and needs of their own. I see them as precious in God’s sight. I see myself as secure in my relationship with Him and safe in my own skin. I embrace the truth that others really aren’t my reviles and there is no need to be in competition with them. What others have does not change who I am in Christ. Does it work? Yes! And it will work each and every time I repeat the necessary steps to freedom.

Father, I delight in the fact that life can be lived differently for me than I have lived it in the past. Each experience with jealousy can be worked through with a confidence of victory through You. Amen.

Still - Hillsong
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mgob5afanUg&feature=related

Getting into God's Word and letting God's Word get into me one truth at a time.

God's Method and Freedom of Speech

Then the LORD came and stood and called as at other times, "Samuel! Samuel!" And Samuel said, "Speak, for Your servant is listening." 1 Samuel 3:10 (New American Standard Bible)

There are times when God works to show us what box we are putting Him in. For me, that box has entailed assuming God would, could, and should be speaking to me in certain ways, at certain times, and in certain places. Usually my ideas come from how I saw Him speak to people in Bible times or how I see Him speak to others in the here and now. I often have the idea that what is true for others in their relationship with God needs to be true for me as well. So I find myself trying to set the stage for such communication to take place. A trip a year ago was no exception.

My plan was to take my daughter to Cumberland Gap, Tennessee, and then get alone with God for a couple days with the desire that He would speak to me personally about a variety of issues in my life. I wanted it to be my “Samuel” moment. I thought I needed to set aside books and music and just have it be us. That is not what happened. Instead, God used a four hour conversation with my daughter, a phrase in a book, a phone conversation with a friend, and individual songs to give me some insights I needed to grasp. Each time truth got in I knew without a doubt that He was speaking directly to me. I came away from that time profoundly refreshed in spirit. How tragic it would have been had I insisted He do it MY way!

I learned to look at two areas of my life differently because of what He chose to show me that weekend. His communication with me will often entail external sources and means. My walk with Him will often include relationships that He brings into my life. As I embraced those truths and delighted in it being that way I found myself more content and at peace.

What am I trying to say? God knows each of our make up. He created us and wired us a certain way. He knows how we operate best and what our legitimate and intimate needs are. We don’t get very far when we look for Him to work differently with us than how He chooses to work. We are the richer for it when we revel in His ways with us and His knowledge of us.

Father, I relinquish my ideas of how things ought to be. You know best. You do what is best. I trust Your heart and Your ways. Amen.

No Eye Has Seen - Paul Baloche
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7HN-6Z43Ik&feature=related

Getting into God's Word and letting God's Word get into me one truth at a time.

An Inexhaustible Supply

But You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth. Psalm 86:15 (New King James Version)

God will many times use the physical world to teach me spiritual truths which include aspects of Himself. This morning, His visual aid to me is our little dog, Chloe. We purchased her from a Humane Society in Tennessee about a year ago and have come to appreciate her as a valued member of our family. We have seen her over come timidity in many areas and celebrated her progress of over coming more as time went on. When confronted with her timid moments we responded with compassion and patience rather than anger or disgust. We understood she had a history we knew nothing of and we took that into account when her weaknesses surfaced.

This morning as I remembered progress made, God reminded me of my gracious attitude toward Chloe before and after she over came fears and intimidations. Instantly, He urged me to see Him as having the same demeanor toward me before and after I have over come an area in my life. He desires for me to lose the view of Him that He thinks the worst of me in my weaknesses. That His patience will run out long before I stand in victory. That I have somehow exhausted His supply of longsuffering and mercy. The untruth of such thinking is one of the reasons He included the words “full” and “abundant” in today’s verse. He carries more than enough of His character and attributes into His relationship with me.

He knows my history and every reason behind every weakness. He knows where I still need growth and development. He knows that my perspective of others and myself can still throw me for a loop. He knows I often feel I am not doing things right or moving fast enough on this journey. He knows that I have mixed feelings about the people in my life and still struggle to find the balance between looking to Him and looking to others for the meeting of needs. Yet, His knowledge of me does not diminish His compassion, graciousness, longsuffering, mercy, or truth. It might diminish those qualities in others but not in Him.

For those of us who have lived our lives with skewed thinking, wrong perceptions, and distorted views, this is a truth that must be received and reviewed on a daily basis. It will not stick after just one time of seeing it. I am in need of hearing it today and I will be in need of hearing it again tomorrow and for each tomorrow after that until I know that I know that I know I finally have it!

Father, You keep showing me the truths that I am desperate to grasp. I need the reminders and I need You. Amen.

By Grace Alone
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6lhilgWXIE

Getting into God's Word and letting God's Word get into me one truth at a time.

Review That Builds Confidence

But the people thirsted there for water; and they grumbled against Moses and said, "Why, now, have you brought us up from Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?" Exodus 17:3 (New American Standard Bible)

The children of Israel faced a very real dilemma. They were in a desert area and had no water. Our bodies need water to live. When thirst sat in it was accompanied by fear. The fear brought about a wrong conclusion in their mind. To them, no water meant eventual death. Even though they had witnessed God’s deliverance for them out of Egypt, received manna from Heaven each morning, and already experienced God’s provision of water at Marah, their present situation over shadowed it all. At a time when they should have recalled God’s power and provision of the past, they went into panic mode.

Can you relate? I certainly can! We have no trouble trusting God when all is well and supply is at hand. But what happens when we are confronted with the impossible? A change in job? An empty bank account? Broken-beyond-repair relationships? An inoperable diagnosis? Or any number of untreatable, unchangeable, unfixable scenarios? When no relief is in sight and no help seems to be on the way? If we are not careful, the same fear that hovered over Israel can soon be hovering over us. With that fear can come the thoughts of being forgotten, ignored, or abandoned by God. We would never say it out loud but we can struggle with the deep down belief or feeling that although He sees our plight He is unmoved or unconcerned about it.

Know this, if you are in that place right now, God wants to assure you nothing is further from the truth. It is imperative that you find verses to hold on to such as I will never leave you or forsake you, I will meet all your needs, I will work all things out for good, nothing is too hard for Me. It is crucial that you review times in the past when God brought you through or supplied needs in amazing ways. It is vital that you voice the truths of Who God is and what God can do before, during, and after you voice the concerns and fears. God knows your situation. He knows you intimately. He has a plan and purpose for you. He never fails!

The children of Israel floundered each time a test came their way because they kept seeing the situation or need as being greater than the One who could help them. They forgot the very truths that could have helped them to walk in confidence in the face of seeming hopelessness. They serve as our examples of what life will be like for us if we repeat their words, thoughts, and actions. Remember, we are not called to understand all that God does or doesn’t do but rather to trust Him in the process.

I want to spend today reviewing with God the many, many things He has done in the past for me, to me, and through me. I want that review to be a part of my next time of testing.

Father, I have experienced Your work, presence, and power in the past. I praise You for the history You and I share. May my life be marked by confidence in You! Amen.

Indescribable - Chris Tomlin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qF9aY49oQTs&feature=related

Getting into God's Word and letting God's Word get into me one truth at a time.