No Power, No Direction

This month one of our senior pastors, Pastor Marci, has been doing an incredible series on Positions of Prayer.  It's been both encouraging and thought provoking.

 On the way home from dropping Ronan off at school this morning I was thinking on many things as we women tend to do.  Among them was summer plans to go visit family in Michigan.

 I was reminded of an experience that I had last summer visiting and it brought me full circle back to thinking on the power of prayer!

Last summer our visit was rather long and, as I had no vehicle of my own, I drove whatever vehicle happened to be free (my family is very cool like that).  I had driven my Mom's car, my Dad's truck, and both my youngest brother and his wife's vehicles. They are all new vehicles with fancy, remote car starting and very quiet running compared to what I drive.

 One day I had to drive my brother Ben's truck to go pick up our kids.  I got in, turned the key in the ignition, and started to go. It had been parked on a little, hilly spot and as I drove down the hill I realized that the steering wheel was incredibly hard to turn and wrestled it to the left enough to avoid hitting the power pole on the other side of the driveway.  

  I was a little shaken and starting to feel very annoyed that no one had bothered to mention that Ben's truck had no power steering!  As I sat there contemplating whether I would have the strength to steer it to my location a thought hit me. "This is a diesel truck. Diesel trucks make a lot of noise. I don't hear any noise!"  Sure enough, I "restarted" the truck and it fired up, I had been "driving" a vehicle with no power!  I'd become so used to the quiet, quick-starting vehicles that I had assumed there was power when I turned the key but it actually needed to turn in the ignition just a bit longer.

 That incident made me think on prayer and how without the power of prayer we struggle with direction in our lives.  Pastor Marci said last night, "Prayer should be purpose driven and motivated by the knowledge of God's will."  She also said this, "If you'll acknowledge God every day, He'll make your paths straight."

  We may be pulling and tugging and turning ever so slightly because of OUR efforts but when we turn on the power of prayer His guidance will make those turns and twists so much easier because we have His strength instead of our own!

If you can I highly recommend listening to this series, I've included the link below.

https://soundcloud.com/anchorfaith/positions-of-prayer

Peeling Back the Layers

I've been doing some heavy thinking these past few days.  It all started with yet another blog. 
FlowerPatch Farmgirl is a blog that speaks to me in a way few writers can; I look forward to her updates daily more than any other blog that I follow.

 Shannon's words are like produce straight from the garden of her soul.  Raw, still smelling of the fresh soil that clings to them and so full of life that you can taste them. 

 Words that make me laugh and cry alternately with the emotion that flows so freely it becomes my own.

  Several days ago she posted about peeling back layers of selfishness.  Slapped me straight upside the head.  

  It is about layers!  Everytime that I put down self and do for someone else instead that's a layer of selfishness that is peeled away.  And everytime I feel resentment about doing something or not having any "me" time it's evidence of a layer that needs to be pulled away.

  Cause it's not about me, it's about others.  And the more I live in unselfishness, the more like Jesus I become.  The Bible says He was tempted in every way and I'm sure that taking a few days off from taking care of everyone else's needs was probably one of those temptations.
 
   But He knew His assignment was not about Him it was about everyone else.  And my assignment isn't about me, it's about my family, my friends, ministry, and the stranger I see at Wal-Mart.

  So I'm praying, "Lord, peel back the layers of selfishness and let Your love shine through!"  Amen.

Time to thrive!

Sometimes you need to see your life through someone else's eyes. To take off your scratched or fogged up lenses and see the real potential and blessings that fill life to the brim!

That happened to me recently through the oddest of places. Someone else's blog post. I follow alot of blogs. Alot. And one of them posted about the mothers in her life, her own and her husband's, and thanked them for the different parts they had played at different points of time.
The one that struck me the most was a conversation that she had with her own mother where her mother challenged her to stop procrastinating and waiting for things to be perfect and just thrive!

Wow. In the back of my thoughts the Holy Spirit gently whispered "that's for you"! I cried, not real tears mind you, those come with great difficulty as if my body will melt if I let them fall even in great sorrow. But I cried inside even as I find myself crying inside now. See, I have been having trouble keeping life in perspective. Bills, motherhood, ministry, housework, etc. all seem to pile on top of each other with no sign of a break and I have been feeling overwhelmed, underqualified, and resentful of some things I feel I can't change.

But, GOD sees me and He cares! And to help me out He sometimes uses other people's examples to show me the light at the end of the tunnel that I created with my sinful worry and doubt.
I looked up the word thrive and this is what it means: to grow strongly and vigorously; to do well; prosper; make steady progress.

This is what God wants from my life and it's not about money or things it's about mindset!
The Bible says "But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings of eagles." Isaiah 40:31
When I wait on God, serve Him, He'll provide the strength I need to accomplish my purpose and I do have a purpose!

Maybe you too are feeling overwhelmede, underqualified and resentful. Let the Master renew your strength. Lean on Him because you can't do it all on your own but "With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26

A Different Level

Today I received a postcard in the mail to come visit one of those "new" churches. You know, the kind where they stress how friendly and open they are with no walls and no one is any different from anyone else? One of the local churches advertises on the radio how "even the pastor wears jeans!".
These churches have become more popular in the last few years with the message everyone's welcome and you'll all leave with warm fuzzies!

Now, I am in no way saying that casual, open churches are bad but I realized that the continual message of "God views us all the same!" is wrong.
A visiting evangalist at our church last week put it well. He said, "I don't consider myself better than non-Christians or seeker sensitive Christians; I do consider myself on another level!"
What did he mean? Well, yes, God does LOVE everyone, but not everyone is in his family!
I have learned that a huge part of Romans 10:9, "That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.", is JESUS IS LORD!
How many "Christians" do I know who confess to believe and yet live a lifestyle so contradictory to God's Word that one wonders if they have ever bothered to read it!

Am I perfect? NO! But, I am repenting (to change one's thought process) daily. I am striving to be not just a "believer" ("even the demons believe" James 2:19) but a disciple (follower; student).

But, I wondered how to adequately explain that God does not view us all the same to someone with the very open-minded attitude that would angrily view this as "small-minded" and prejudice.

An example came to me: Say your grandfather has an amazing and valuable collections of rare coins. Do you expect him to hand them out to a random stranger on the street or keep them in the family? Your grandfather might even be a very open, loving person towards any and every person he meets yet you would still be hurt and surprised if that collection were casually given to a first-time aquaintance and not to someone in the family.

It's the same with God; He loves everyone equally and prepared equal opportunity for everyone to be His child. But not everyone takes that for themselves and many that do "believe" do not live righteously (in right-standing) and therefore disqualify themselves as sons. Hebrews 12:14 tells us "without holiness no one will see the Lord".
This does put those living righteously on a different level, "seated in heavenly places"! (Ephesians 2:6)
And as sons we have access to all the Father desires to give us!

Best Laid Plans...

Life never seems to go the way you plan it. Never mind the "plans" you make for the distant future, today is itself an unknown until it is ended.

"In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps. " Proverbs 16:9

Today I "planned" to clean house and have Ronan help me make bunny cookies. Grandma Mullane sent us a cute set of cookie cutters last year and he was too young to participate so I decided this year we would do it. And today was the day.

Or not... Poor little guy came down with the stomach flu that has been the bane of many mothers in the last week. With loss of fluids from top and bottom baking was definitely out of the question!

I realized this evening that although it had been a somewhat difficult day my spirits had remained high. I wondered to myself why I could take this truly unpleasant situation (I had to take three showers people!) in stride and yet some days that are filled with very little stress seem to be so difficult?

Truly, this past week and a half has been spent with God! Last night's praise and worship was both exhilerating and overwhelming as we focused on our King and Who He is!
The more time I spend with my King the more peace I feel. The less I let emotions and difficulty bring me down.

I am currently missing tonight's service to be home with my little man but I know that tomorrow can still be a good day as long as I stay focused on my assignment in the Kingdom!

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Learning What It Means to Love

Liam and I have been enrolled in Kingdom Institute for the past seven months.  It is a Bible School program designed to train us in Kingdom principles and help us learn what it truly means to be a disciple of Christ.

 It is a two year program and already we have learned so much!  Classes like "Spirit, Soul and Body", "How to be Led by the Spirit", "Kingdom Mind Renewal" have been amazing foundations.  But this past semester was the most challenging of all so far.  The two courses were "Kingdom Concept of Faith", and "Kingdom Concept of Love".
  Both of these have stretched and strengthened me in my spiritual walk.  For "Kingdom Concept of Love", one of our tests was to learn 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 by heart and be able to write it, word for word, from memory.
  I chose what I believe is the longest available version of this passage because it is also the most in depth.  It is the Expanded Interpretive Translation by Rick Renner; he took all the original Greek words and expanded upon what was truly meant by the author at the time.

                                1 Corinthians 13:4-8
"Love patiently and passionately bears with others for as long as patience is needed; Love doesn't demand others to be like itself; rather, it is so focused on the needs of others that it bends over backwards to become what others need it to be; Love is not ambitious, self-centered, or so consumed with itself that it never considers the needs or desires that others possess; Love doesn't go around talking about itself all the time, constantly exaggerating and embellishing the facts to make it seem more important in the sight of others; Love does not behave in a prideful, arrogant, haughty, superior, snooty, snobbish or clannish manner;Love is not rude and discourteous- it is not careless or thoughtless, nor does it carry on in a fashion that would be considered insensitive to others; Love does not manipulate situations, or scheme and devise methods that will twist situations to its own advantage; Love does not deliberately engage in actions or speak words that are so sharp, they cause an ugly or violent response; Love does not deliberately keep records of wrongs or past mistakes; Love does not feel overjoyed when it sees an injustice done to someone else, but is elated, thrilled, ecstatic, and overjoyed with the truth; Love protects, shields, guards, covers, conceals, and safeguards people from exposure; Love strains forward with all its might to believe the very best in every situation; Love always expects and anticipates the best in others and the best for others, Love never quits, never surrenders, and never gives up; Love never disappoints, never fails, and never lets anyone down."

 Oh how far we have fallen from the original intent of the King!