Missing Piece

Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord will all of your heart, and do not trust in your own understanding.  Agree with Him in ALL your ways and He will make you path’s straight.”

Jeremiah 29: 13-14 “You will look for Me and find Me, WHEN you look for Me with ALL OF YOUR HEART.”

Recently my mother brought something to my attention that I have never noticed before.  Do you see what is missing?  Let’s see if you can figure it out as I unravel what He has on my heart tonight.  

In John 12:1-8, it discusses a scenario in which Mary, whom most of us know that Mary is the one who sits at Jesus’ feet while Martha works and puts food on the table (also note Martha gets very frustrated with the details of the house and not Jesus).  Mary takes her most prized possession and pours it over Jesus’ feet, wipes them with her hair, and then clings to His feet.  She clutches so tightly and is hanging on knowing He is the most important detail of that dinner.  

We all are Martha’s and Mary’s at some point, if not changing roles daily.  Our minds get so caught up in the daily agenda, that we forget to cling to His feet.  We have to let him in our hearts and in our minds.  “God has deliberately chosen this particular vehicle (prayer) as the one that drives HIS activity in people’s lives.  It’s what He allows us to use to cooperate and partner with Him in the fulfilling of HIS will.” (Fervent, Priscilla Shirer).  

Have you figured out the missing piece to that picture?  It is missing a door knob.  WE have to let Him in.  He can’t let Himself in our hearts, minds, and lives.  WE HAVE TO LET HIM IN!  So, get out your tool boxes and start working on that door handle, because He is knocking.  

Be Blessed!

Only One Lives Without Sin

Watch this clip:  (there is no sound)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDuUUgLItNA​

1 Peter 2:22-25

“He never sinned. No lie or bad talk ever came from His lips.  When people spoke against Him, He never spoke back.  When He suffered from what people did to Him, He did not try to pay them back.  He left it in the hands of the One Who was always right in judging.  He carried our sins in His own body when He died on a cross.  In doing this, we may be dead to sin and alive to all that is right and good.  His words have healed you!  You were like lost sheep  But now you have come back to Him Who is your Shepherd and the One Who cares for your soul.”

Jesus lived a pure life.  A life that led to no wrong doing.  Can you imagine the statements that were made to Him?  The wrong doings that He endured.  NO BAD WORDS OR THOUGHTS CAME FROM HIM.

Have you ever tried to live one day without sinning?  No gossiping, nothing bad coming from our mouths or even our thoughts…IMPOSSIBLE.  Human nature is hard to beat.  Our natural response when someone does us wrong is to defend ourselves, whether in thoughts, actions, and/or words.  

However, in order to cleanse us from our sins, His blood had to be shed.  In Hebrews 9:18 it states, “The Old Way of Worship had to have a death to make it good.  The blood of an animal was used.”  In Hebrews 10:10 it states, “Our sins are washed away and we are made plain because Christ gave His own body as a gift to God.”  Because He gave his own blood for all of us, there was born a “New Worship”.  I had never really thought of it as an “old way” of worship or a “new way" of worship.  No longer where animals needed to be slain, Jesus’ blood is good forever.  

Wow!  Thank goodness for His Grace and the fact that His cup never runs empty on us.  He suffered and did not give up until “It was finished”.   

Happy Easter!

Mental Real Estate

Galatians 5:1  “Christ has set us free to live a free life.  So take your stand!  Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you.”

Romans 12:1-2 “…Take your everyday, ordinary life-your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking around-life-and place it before God as an offering.  Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for Him.  Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking.  Instead, fix your attention on God.  You’ll be changed from the inside out.  Readily recognize what He wants from you, and quickly respond to it.  Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you into its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.”

I truly love being able to walk in awe of how He places these messages on my heart.  There are some weeks where, on Wednesday nights, such at tonight, I don’t have a true clear understanding of what He is wanting me to put on paper, but then sitting and reflecting the week and events that have occurred, it might as well slap me in the face.  He has it ready and sitting right in front of me.  Here is what He has laid on my heart tonight:  

We have been looking for a new home closer into town.  I find myself on Zillow daily trying to find the “just right house”.  However, we can’t put a contract on anything until we sell our house.  Why am I wasting my time?  Why am I taking my time to search for a home that I, subconsciously, know that God already has for us? The thoughts, the rollercoaster of “what ifs” have consumed so many moments over the last few months.  Where does it get me??? No where and certainly not into a new home.  

Did you know that that we have Mental Real Estate?  Yep, we have real estate in our heads.  What do we let occupy it?  The “what if’s”, the anxiousness, the worry… I recently learned that I’m a Neuroplastician.  Did you know you were too?  Dr. Caroline Leaf has studied the brain and found that negative thoughts take over our brains like weeds.  “What you feed grows, what you starve dies.”  You are in charge of those thoughts, your mindset.  Take those thoughts and those feelings captive.  Don’t let them grow, toss them out and don’t let them take control of your life.  What does the mental real estate look like in your life?  Is it something that is pleasing in God’s eyes?  Is it fruitful in your life?  If not, be a neuroplastician and change it, because you can.  

Be blessed!  

Faith vs. Hope

Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for.  It is being sure of what we CANNOT SEE.”

2 Corinthians 5:7 “Our life is lived by faith.  We do not live by what we see in front of us.”

Faith vs. Hope

We have all had an instance when the electricity has gone out, whether it be for a few moments or even a few days.  How many times have you gone into a room, while without electricity, and hit the switch out of habit?  We then have a few seconds of frustration and then the knowledge of knowing it will come back on once the problem has been fixed.  This is called “faith”.  If we were wondering “IF” it would come back on, that would be called “hope”.

Reflecting back on different seasons of my life, I have seen so many seasons where I have displayed “hope” rather than faith.  “I hope I get this job.”  “I hope that my child does well in the tournament.”  “I hope __________.”  Do you sit in a chair and hope it holds you up?  No, we sit in a chair having faith that it will hold us up.  Faith is knowing it will happen, even if we don’t understand how it is going to happen.  Faith is knowing that the outcome may not be what we predict, but it will have benefits that we never dreamed up.  Faith is knowing that regardless of what the next step in our lives may be, He is holding our hand and/or carrying us through.  

How do we tap into this “faith”?  Flip the switch and know that He will always light up the room and show you the way when it is time.  Stay rooted in His truth and clarity with come in time, His time.  TRUST IN HIM AND HAVE FAITH!

Lauren Daigle - Trust In You

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qv-SXz_exKE

Be Blessed.