Blank Pages

Colossians 1:27-28 CEV

…the mystery is that Christ lives in you, and he is your hope of sharing in God’s glory. We announce the message about Christ, and we use all our wisdom to warn and teach everyone, so that all of Christ’s followers will grow and become mature.

Deuteronomy 4:29 New Life Version (NLV)

29 But from there you will look for the Lord your God. And you will find Him if you look for Him with all your heart and soul.

Jeremiah 29:13 New Life Version (NLV)

13 You will look for Me and find Me, when you look for Me with all your heart.

Blank pages can be very intimidating for writers.  I do not claim to be a writer.  The white that spreads across my screen can start to turn into a black hole.  Let me take you back to where Thoughtful Thursdays were birthed and why I’m writing them, while claiming I’m not a writer.  

Originally, these emails were sent out as being an uplifting piece in our inbox.  They were very simple and basic, a verse or a song that spoke loudly to me that week.  Very quickly, God started laying something bigger on my heart.  He started laying a message in pieces throughout my week.  Those pieces would come together and create a beautiful message that I felt led to share.  In time, I felt led to spread the good news across social media by sharing it on a blog that is freely open for anyone to read.  Throughout the last few years, there has been times where I haven’t been tuning in and finding the pieces throughout my week.  Those led to the blank pages that I mentioned earlier.  However, God always found a way to poke His way into my mind and lay the message out for me.  

Last week, I struggled to put anything on paper.  It is not that I’m in a bad place, or that I’m desperate for anything.  In fact, I’m completely comfortable.  I’m juggling life and balancing it all.  I started to divert from the “You have got this God” to the “I have got this on my own.”  I felt like I was forcing words on paper, rather than letting God work through me.  That is when I realized that I don’t need to write when it is not from Him.  I also realized that if I’m not actively seeking, then I won’t see the pieces He is laying before me.  If I’m missing those pieces, I’m missing the whole picture that He displaying for me.  When facing blank pages, they begin to turn into black holes.  Black holes can lead to darkness, feeling lost, alone, etc.  

My message today is this, be a NOTICER.  Be someone who is actively seeking the Lord.  Seeking the pieces that He is placing in your life.  Because if you don’t, you will be faced with blank pages.  

Be Blessed!

The Next Step

Romans 3:23-24, 28  Contemporary English Version (CEV)

23 All of us have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. 24 But God treats us much better than we deserve,[b] and because of Christ Jesus, he freely accepts us and sets us free from our sins. 

Hebrews 11:1 Contemporary English Version (CEV)

11 Faith makes us sure of what we hope for and gives us proof of what we cannot see.

2 Corinthians 5:7 New Life Version (NLV)

7 Our life is lived by faith. We do not live by what we see in front of us.

Did you know that the world’s strongest bridge is the Japan's Akashi Kaikyo Bridge?  It can handle 179 mph winds.  Irma brought us winds of 105 mph.  I can’t imagine 179mph winds.  That is one strong bridge!!!  

Many times in life we feel like we are faced with walking a tight rope.  We fear taking the first step.  We fear taking the second step.  We fear losing our balance.  And our greatest fear is the fear of falling, of failing.  

God looks at our tight rope as the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge.  He “treats us much better than we deserve”.  He gives us faith that He will carry us across when we don’t have the strength, or guts, to take the next step.  He helps keep our balance.  He steadies our shaking bodies.  He tells us to keep our eyes on Him. He assures us over and over again, that He has our plans mapped out and they are mapped out for the good.   He may see the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge, but we see a tiny thread.  We see the impossible, but He sees that it is possible.  Have faith and take the next step.  

Be Blessed!

No Longer the Loser

Hebrews 11:1 New International Version (NIV)

Faith in Action

11 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

Proverbs 29:18 The Message (MSG)

18 If people can’t see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves.  But when they attend to what He reveals, they are most blessed.

Psalm 119:105 Contemporary English Version (CEV)

105 Your word is a lamp that gives light wherever I walk.

Psalm 119:130 Contemporary English Version (CEV)

130 Understanding your word brings light to the minds of ordinary people.

I have had a revelation about myself.  I have always loved competition, but in the end, I don’t get too upset if I LOSE.  However, my husband does.  He DESPISES losing at anything.  He always will ask why it doesn’t bother me and I can’t figure out why it doesn’t bother me.  I want it to “ruffle my feathers”.  I feel like if it bothered me, then I would persevere more to win.  Then  recently I realized that this “losing” disease has spread into other areas in my life.  At times, I give up the fight too easily.  That is when I realized that I lacked vision.  I don’t envision myself as a winner.  

Vision is not sight by the eye, but a function of the heart.  I can tell you what I would do to my house if I was given a large sum of money to remodel.  However, when it comes to personal goals, that are not tangible, I can’t “see” it.   

What are your personal goals?  What is your vision for your life?  No one person on this planet has the same fingerprints, just as no one person has the same vision.  You were born with a purpose, with a gift, with a passion.  If you are going through the daily motions of life without a heartbeat, I strongly suggest you reflect on your life goals and start dreaming about what path you are summoned to take.  

This was taken from http://www.jimfeeney.org/personalvisionfromGod.html

How can you get a personal vision of God's will for you specifically and walk that out in your life?

• The WORD of God will light and direct your path.

• PRAYER. God often gives vision in response to it.

• Personal PROPHECY, properly given and carefully evaluated.

• DIRECT REVELATION by the Holy Spirit.

• ​​In the MULTITUDE of trustworthy COUNSELORS.

I know that God places things in our lives at the right time.  He has placed this reality in my life at a time in which I am ready to take on the challenge of fighting for the win.  

Be Blessed!

The Snooze Button

Romans 12:2 Contemporary English Version (CEV)

2 Don’t be like the people of this world, but let God change the way you think. Then you will know how to do everything that is good and pleasing to him.

Matthew 5:16 Contemporary English Version (CEV)

16 Make your light shine, so that others will see the good that you do and will praise your Father in heaven.

Ephesians 5:14-16 The Message (MSG)

11-16 Don’t waste your time on useless work, mere busywork, the barren pursuits of darkness…It’s a scandal when people waste their lives on things they must do in the darkness where no one will see. Rip the cover off those frauds and see how attractive they look in the light of Christ.

Wake up from your sleep,

Climb out of your coffins;

Christ will show you the light!

So watch your step. Use your head. Make the most of every chance you get. These are desperate times!

I am a snoozer!  I will hit the snooze button multiple times if my phone is sitting next to my bed.  I have discovered that if I put my phone in my bathroom, which is a good little hike from my bed, I am less likely to hit snooze.   Hitting snooze does nothing for me other than give me a few more minutes of sleep, which in all reality I’m sitting and thinking about what I should be doing rather than sitting in bed.  Getting up at 4:30 in the morning is nuts, but I have found that starting my day in the word then going to the gym is the way that God intended me to start my day.  He empowers me in what I read in His word and then continues to empower me in either my workout and/or a conversation (or 2 or 3 conversations) with other women at the gym.  I then listen to a podcast type phone call recording on the way home from the gym to continue to keep my mind from hitting snooze.  These phone calls help me play less mind games and really get into action.  All of these things happen before 6:30am, if I don’t hit SNOOZE.  

God does not call us to be “snoozers”.  He wants us to live each day to the fullest, basking in His love.  We have to “use our heads” and let His words be in our heads daily.  If you are a spiritual “snoozer”, you may be lagging in your prayer life, being tempted in your social circumstances, lying dead in your actions, missing opportunities, etc.  

I’m not saying to get up at 4:30am and go through my actions.  What I am saying is that when your spiritual alarm clock goes off, don’t hit SNOOZE.  Don’t put off a prayer that needs to be whispered.  Don’t put off a good dead that needs to be done.  Don’t put off lifting someone up that seems like they are lost.  God did not put us here to “snooze” through life.  He put us here to be difference makers.  

Be Blessed!