“When we are yielded to the Holy Spirit’s authority, His personality fills us and eclipses our own.  When we’re not yielded, we grieve the Holy Spirit and operate from our carnal nature.”
Beth Moore

Let Your Faith Soar!

I have a friend who is a wonderful speaker and teacher and she is passionate about the subject of “living below what God intended.”  As I walk this journey of faith, I have become more and more convicted that this is exactly what we do.  We are compromised children who know there is much greater out there for us but who are too entrenched in the world and too timid about ramping our faith up to full volume.  Life is good, things are good, why rock the boat?  Besides, if we really fall backwards into the arms of our Lord, we may be required to do something.  We may be required to step out of our comfort zone and we certainly will be obligated to hand over the control of our lives.  Why do we not see and understand how incredibly wonderful it would be to live in the fullness of Christ now?  Perhaps it is because there is an enemy whose sole purpose is to keep us from the knowledge of the true power we have in Christ.  If he can neutralize us, he can keep us from living a life of full blown faith.  If we allowed God to take over every corner of our lives we would be living above the compromised, neutralized zone we exist in now.  We would be floating on the wind of faith, soaring to heights we never dreamed of.     

“Then he touched their eyes and said, "Because of your faith, it will happen."
Matthew 9:29

Why is it that we find so many of the resolutions we have made in previous years keep turning up at the beginning of the next year?  It’s because the very nature of these resolutions is to focus on ourselves and our own power.  “I resolve to lose weight”; “I resolve to get more exercise.”  “I resolve to spend more time with my family.”  Me, me, me, I, I ,I …we are trying to create better behavior through our own strength and end up looking downward, at ourselves and into the world rather than upward, toward God.

Apart from Christ, we have no power and this makes our resolution making a much easier task.  If we resolve to live for God, the rest will follow.  We will be in His will and all the pressure is off of us to perform.  What freedom!  What excitement the thought brings as I look towards the New Year and what the Lord has in store.

Blessings for you and yours in 2006!
Anita
 

"This is Christmas: not the tinsel, not the giving and receiving, not even the carols, but the humble heart that receives anew the wondrous gift, the Christ. "
Frank McKibben

You might say that the makeup of the lineage of Christ was unexpected.  Consider Abraham, a man who doubted God when he was told he would father a nation; Jacob who lied about his birthright; Rahab a prostitute and David a king who abused his power to take the wife of another man.   Who would have looked to them as being part of the family of our Lord and Savior?  And then there’s the man that God ordained to make the way for His Son.  A man with wild hair, dressed in animal skins and eating bugs and honey, John the Baptist.  Could there have been a more unexpected herald of the work of Christ?  And even the birth of Christ was full of unexpected events.  His mother was a virgin, her betrothed chose to marry her anyway rather than do what was expected in the culture (extricate himself from the engagement), He was born in a manger surrounded by animals and His arrival was announced to people of low birth by a host of angels.  Definitely a litany of the unexpected!

God is still found in unexpected places.  How often do we look through a person or past a situation only to find later that God was involved?  The fingerprints of God are everywhere, we just have to be careful and not be so busy going about our daily routine that we smudge them and never see them clearly.

"Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent."
Eleanor Roosevelt

Have you been fixated on how bad you look in a bathing suit this summer?  Have you suffered through shorts season, hating the way you look and feeling bad about yourself?  Don’t worry, you’re not alone.  The father of lies is always busy and he loves to attack us in our most vulnerable spot. And what more vulnerable spot for women in this age of youth and thinness than your body shape?  How better to cripple you and focus your attention away from the things of God, from the wonderful works God has for you than to paralyze you with fear and loathing about the way you look. 

Remember, he roams this world like a roaring lion, looking to devour anyone who is not on the alert.  If you are not aware that these thoughts and feelings come from him you give him permission to destroy your feelings of self-worth.

Do you really think God cares how you look in a bathing suit?  Can you possibly believe the lie that you won’t be effective in ministry because of the way you look?  How many of his lies have you taken in as truth?  How distorted is your image of yourself because the deceiver wants you to focus on your outward appearance and ignore your heart?  I have had an epiphany lately and realized that the constant struggle to look good on the outside is a diversionary tactic of the enemy.  If he can get me to hate the way I look and feel inferior to others because I am not as thin as they are, he can neutralize me and make my ministry, my very walk with Christ a diluted thing.

 
You have the power through our almighty Lord to kick the enemy to the curb and shut his lying mouth.  Our God is our divine bodyguard and when the evil one slithers close to whisper lies in your ear and condemn you, step back and let God give him a good old fashioned whacking!  And then march proudly into the water in whatever size bathing suit you wear.  God sees your beauty….you should too!

There is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.  John 8:44(b) (NLT)

Wisdom is knowledge applied. Head knowledge is useless on the battlefield. Knowledge stamped on the heart makes one wise.  
Beth Moore

Are you a wise woman or a knowledgeable woman?  Is there a difference?  I believe that knowledge comes from the head, the “learned” stuff.  Wisdom is the heart-part of knowledge.  You’re not much good to the family of God if you have a bunch of information stuffed in your head but you never exhibit the heart-action part of your faith.  Knowledge has no feet; it cannot take action on its own.  Knowledge combined with wisdom is the total package that propels you down the road of God’s will.  Don’t be proud of what you know, knowledge in itself is useless.  Be proud of what you have learned as a child of God and how you have turned your knowledge into wisdom.

A wise man is mightier than a strong man, and a man of knowledge is more powerful than a strong man.
Proverbs 24:5 (NLT)

Are you hampered by the guilt of your past?  Is the evil one whispering in your ear, telling you that you are unworthy to have a relationship with God because of things you have said, thought or done?  Does guilt wrap itself around you like a boa constrictor and try to squeeze the life out of you? 

Instead of being sad or depressed, get MAD!  Don’t listen to the lies of the deceiver.  His main purpose in life is to keep us from the full knowledge of the God we worship.  Wallowing in your guilt from the past is the glue that will keep you stuck to the world and away from the presence of God.  He loves us and has told us over and over again that He does not remember our sins.  In Hebrews 8:12 says, “They'll get to know me by being kindly forgiven, with the slate of their sins forever wiped clean.”

Forgive yourself and let the richness of God’s love burst the chains of guilt and sadness in your life. 

“When troubles ganged up on me, a mob of sins past counting, I was so swamped by guilt  I couldn't see my way clear.  More guilt in my heart than hair on my head, so heavy the guilt that my heart gave out.”
Psalm 40:12 (The Message)

“Do not measure your obedience by the result of your circumstances”
Kathy Collard Miller

But Lord, I thought I was being obedient!

Have you ever been clicking along, smiling and rejoicing in the goodness of the Lord in your life, patting yourself on the back with your obedience and willingness to follow God’s plan?  Just at that moment, when you are ready to settle down in your “easy chair of faith” and put your feet up on the “footstool of complacency” a
HUGE earthquake rocks your entire world and knocks you off that comfy chair.  As you rub your bruises you look around and wonder, “What just happened here?”  “God, are you out there?”  “Haven’t You seen how good and faithful I’ve been?”  “Hey, this isn’t FAIR!”

I just recently experienced this.  I struggled to understand why the Lord would bring me through a time of change where I had followed Him in prayerful obedience every step of the way only to cause my heart to tear with grief at an unexpected and tragic event.  I looked at this painful, terrible moment in my life and began to wonder if I had been truly listening, if I had only thought I was being obedient.

God, in his grace and mercy sent me to an event where I heard Kathy Collard Miller speak. As she stood at the podium, one sentence she spoke was God speaking truth and love into my life. “Do not measure your obedience by the result of your circumstances” I may have gotten a word or two in the phrase wrong but the message was there, for me, from God.  The knowledge that I was doing His will, that I was obedient washed over me like healing water.  I breathed a huge spiritual sigh of relief and probably had one of the best night’s sleep I’d had in months.

Don’t ever look at your present circumstances and let Satan whisper in your ear.  Only you and God know what’s in your heart.  If you have been obedient, He will be faithful.  Period.  The best weapon Satan has is to try to make you turn inward and doubt your faith and relationship with Christ.  Stuff holy cotton in your ears and sing loud praise songs to drown out his lying voice!  He didn’t get the name deceiver for nothing.  He has absolutely no power over you.

"He stripped all the spiritual tyrants in the universe of their sham authority at the Cross and marched them naked through the streets." Colossians 2:15 (The Message)

(Kathy Collard Miller is a HER-oe.  Find out more about her in our Real HER-oes section.)

 

It is easy to love the people far away. It is not always easy to love those close to us. It is easier to give a cup of rice to relieve hunger than to relieve the loneliness and pain of someone unloved in our own home. Bring love into your home for this is where our love for each other must start.      Mother Teresa

Where's The Love?
“I don’t feel I should have to help with Sunday School (Childcare, the Nursery, fill in the blank) because I’ve raised my kids and it’s someone else’s turn.”  “I’m not giving any money for childcare in my Bible study.  Why should I have to subsidize those mothers?  If they need childcare, they should pay for it themselves.”  “I don’t have time to mentor a woman.  By the time I get home from work, cook dinner and get the kids settled, I’m exhausted.  I’ll do that someday when I’m retired, maybe.” 

Ladies, are you keeping your love in a box?  Meting it out only as you see fit?  Do you readily volunteer to give money, work the booth or make flyers for missions but the thought of helping a young mother in your church seems more foreign to you than taking a trip to the Serengeti?  Sometimes the ones with needs who are closest to us are the ones we never see. Look at life with the eyes of God and it will make a HUGE difference in how you see what’s in front of you.  For instance, when that little childcare collection basket comes by you the next time you are in your women’s Bible Study, ask God to show it to you with HIS eyes of love. You might see blessings bursting out of that little basket.  Blessings to mothers who can take a few hours out of their day and soak themselves in the fragrant bath of God’s word.  Blessings for those moms who can make themselves more beautiful with the beauty tools of wisdom and exhortation from other Christian women as they discuss the lesson in their small group.  Blessings of the comforting and relaxing effects of the “Holy massage” they receive by spending time in God’s Beauty Spa, (also often referred to as a Bible study.)  Aren’t you just itching to dive into your purse and put something in that little basket now?  If you don’t have much, give what you can (remember how Jesus used the widow and her two coins as a life lesson).  If you have no money to give, how about a gift of some time?  Can you help with the childcare in any way?  And never forget the importance of the gift of prayer!  Find a young mom and talk to her a bit.  Tell her you are willing to be her prayer warrior and check in with her each week to see what her prayer needs are and ask about her praise reports.  There will always be needs. God will always provide a way for us to help fill those needs.  all we have to do is give up our own preconceived notions of what causes are “worthy” and just let our faith loose and love with an open heart.  There is never an end to the opportunities we have to express love to our Christian sisters in a tangible way, so put on God's rosy glasses, put on your extravagant faith and see all the opportunities He gives us to be a blessing.