Soaring Again

But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. (Heb. 3:13 NIV)

How easy it is to become hardened in so many different ways – offenses, continual exposure to people in desperate situations, financial struggles, etc. – and not even realize it is happening.

What will destroy that hardness?  Being renewed in God’s love.

17 May Christ through your faith [actually] dwell (settle down, abide, make His permanent home) in your hearts! May you be rooted deep in love and founded securely on love, 18 That you may have the power and be strong to apprehend and grasp with all the saints [God's devoted people, the experience of that love] what is the breadth and length and height and depth [of it]; 19 [That you may really come] to know [practically, through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge [without experience]; that you may be filled [through all your being] unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]! (Eph. 3:17-19 AMP)

I can see God’s love enveloping those hard hearts, not just causing the hard deposits to crumble, but actually dissolving them.  As the hardness disappears, the sound of the Father’s heartbeat is strong once again, where it had become so faint.  Joy and peace return, and there is the sabbath rest once again.

With the heart renewed in the love of Christ, the mission He has given doesn’t look so impossible.  The passion for the people around you has been reignited, because it’s no longer human passion, but our Father’s passion.  Now His strength has replaced your strength, and you can soar above the fray on eagle’s wings!

Blessed Beyond Measure!

I am truly blessed.  In addition to the blessing of salvation.  In addition to the blessing of God’s amazing love and grace.  In addition to Jesus’ sacrifice for me.  In addition to Daddy’s promised gift of Holy Spirit.  Perhaps it’s not really in addition to all these things, but as an outflow of these things.  It was in thinking about the people with whom I recently had a heart-to-heart conversation that the overflowing sense of blessing spilled over into this message!

I am blessed to know several amazing missionaries around the world.  Blessed to have gone to some of the places where amazing missionaries give of their lives in reaching out with the love of Christ to people of other cultures.  Blessed to have given housing and food to several missionaries and their families over the years.  Blessed to be able to hear their heartbeat – for it’s the heartbeat of our God – for the people in the places they now call “home.”

Beyond all these missionary blessings, I am especially blessed to have the honor and privilege of calling some of these amazing people my friends – dear friends.  They don’t just want to know me so I’ll share their visions, sow into their ministries, or minister to their needs.  They want to know my heart, share my vision, and minister to my needs!  They truly want to be my friend.

Thank You, Daddy, for blessing me so richly, and for loving me so much as to bring friends like these into my life, over and over and over!  I truly am blessed beyond measure!

His Grace is Sufficient

Have you ever had a really hard time with someone you are around on a regular basis – a family member, student in your class, co-worker, co-student, etc.?  When you’ve done nothing wrong – really, you haven’t – yet this person gets downright mean toward you, thoughts of more time with them leave you less than happy, to say the least.

After experiencing this myself, I awoke to the anticipation of more of the same antagonistic words and actions.  I prepared myself to “be nice” in my own strength, while dwelling on what had already been done.  How thankful I am that the Lord interrupted my thoughts (vain imaginations) to remind me, instead, of His Word:

Philippians 3:13 Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead

Of course, Kay!  Leave the past in the past.  God’s grace was sufficient in the past.  Even if I am treated the same way the next time, God’s grace will be sufficient for me then, as well.  I will be able to walk in His love, not receiving the offense – no matter how many next times there are – as long as I draw on His grace.

2 Corinthians 12:9 AMP  But He said to me, My grace (My favor and loving-kindness and mercy) is enough for you [sufficient against any danger and enables you to bear the trouble manfully]; for My strength and power are made perfect (fulfilled and completed) and show themselves most effective in [your] weakness.

Even to leave the past behind and forget what has been done to me requires me to walk in His grace.  From there, I can lean on Holy Spirit to guide me through whatever comes, also in His grace, so the light of Jesus’ love will keep shining through me – even towards the most difficult individuals.

Leaving the past behind and pressing forward in His grace with you, my sisters!

A Friend in Grace

As I transcribed my handwritten journal to the computer, there was a paragraph that reminded me of my sisters who are far away from your natural home.  In this particular entry, I wrote about the ground I had lost in my communication with the Lord while on vacation.  It wasn’t the vacation itself, but the lack of quality time with the Lord alone, as well as no heartfelt conversations with others concerning the things of God.  It’s those things together that keep me invigorated in Him.

It may not be vacation that moves you out of that place of regular fellowship, but cultural differences that require you to do everyday life so differently, taking much more time and effort than when in your native land.  Add to this the time spent on the work of the ministry, and you might find your one-on-One time with the Lord sorely lacking.  As for conversations with others about the Lord in ways that refresh and renew you, the language and cultural differences create barriers in relating freely and easily – the way you can with someone sharing your native tongue.

Actually, the only way any of us can stay invigorated in Him at all is through His grace.  It’s not what we’re doing right or wrong.  It’s not our works.  Spending lots of time with His Word every day helps, but only by His grace.  Likewise, we don’t lack because our time is taken up with the needs of everyone else, with nothing left for quiet time with Him.  Whether in our preferred spiritual environment or not, it’s a simple matter of coming boldly to God’s throne – because of what Jesus Christ has done.  It’s there we find His grace to be in Him and with Him no matter what our schedule or surroundings allow.

Once He reminded me of it all being His grace anyway, and not my works, I realized that my journal is my friend when there are no kindred spirits with whom to share of the Lord.  I connect with my best friend, Jesus Christ, as I scribe what I see, think, feel, or understand from His Word and Spirit – even as I question.  I suspect you, too, have a friend, though it may not be a journal; perhaps it is art, cooking, decorating, gardening, etc.  If you allow yourself to connect with Jesus Christ – by grace – in your special friendship, you, too, will be reinvigorated.

Strength, peace, love, and grace to you, blessed women of God!

Ephesians 6:23-24 AMP  ²³ Peace be to the brethren, and love joined with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).  ²⁴ Grace (God’s undeserved favor) be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with undying and incorruptible [love]. Amen (so let it be).

It is for Freedom!

Since my last post had a similar theme, you can easily figure out where I am in my own life right now.  I guess it could be summed up as practical living in the every day details of life, with Christ at the center.

The latest lesson came as I prepared to clean our tub.  My normal routine is to clean only the tub portion one week, while doing both the tub and shower walls the next.  I used to do it all every time, realized it isn’t needed that often, and gave myself the privilege of an easier week every other week.

When I’m going on a trip, I like to make sure the house is cleaned just before I leave so it will be clean when I return, and I won’t have to add that into my schedule.  Since we are preparing for a trip next week, this was on my mind as I debated whether to clean the walls today or just before we leave.  Then it hit me, and I spoke out loud to myself, “Kay, you don’t have to do it either time, if you don’t want to!”  What a revelation!

Of all things, I have made this a law for myself.  But God doesn’t care if I let it go for weeks at a time, especially if doing the “big” job will steal my peace when I have a tight schedule.  He’s all about my living in peace, you know – and certainly not into my losing it to a less than sparkling shower wall!  I hope you’re laughing at me by now, because I’m sure laughing along with you.

There are bound to be things in your own life routine (no matter how chaotic that “routine” might seem) that really aren’t as important as you’ve made them.  Somehow, they’ve become a law for you.  When you don’t do them, you feel guilty, like you’re just not measuring up . . . to what???  I give you permission today to say out loud that you don’t have to (fill in the blank), and it is perfectly fine with Jesus.  If you get slack, He is well able to point it out – without the guilt and condemnation.  After all:

Galatians 5:1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. NIV

Freedom for you, my sisters on the mission field!  Let me hear what “shower walls” have been in your own life.