Archive | May, 2014

Enjoy Life — till it Overflows!

24 May

I spent last weekend with some beautiful women.  Each one dressed in Jesus Christ from the inside out and doing their best to wear Him well.  The conversations shared around tables, over coffee, and in tucked away corners ran the gamut – raucous laughter and poking fun at ourselves to tears shed and hearts laid bare.

My Cup Overflows

My Cup Overflows

To me, that’s true beauty, uncontainable radiance in action.  Sisters doing life together, bonded by heart and bound by soul to other daughters of the King.  Some meeting one another for the first time—not a thing in common but their love for their Jesus.

  • All denominations.
  • All age groups.
  • All manner of occupations.

Each one stretching outside of themselves to connect with His people.  The blessed sisterhood hand-picked for them by the lover of their souls.

This particular conference was called a “Women’s Refresher” rather than a retreat and my mind really enjoyed that change of title.  It gave my heart a sense of expectation and hope.  Hope that we all might walk away with souls renewed, spirits refreshed, and hearts at rest.  With a rejuvenated resolve to stand firm in the face of whatever might lay on the other side of the weekend.  See, I think that

“rest of the soul — refreshed heart” living is the mental expression of our spiritual reality.

Christ came so that we could have life and have it the full.  Not do just a little bit of living, but really go after the thing with all He has created us to be.  The Amplified Bible translates John 10:10 in such a way that I can’t keep the smile from creeping across my face and my heart simultaneously . . .

The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy.

I came that they may have and enjoy life,

and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows). 

John 10:10 AMP

Isn’t that wonderful – enjoyment of life with the Life Giver.  Abundance that does not change with the ebb and flow of our circumstances.  Life to overflowing that isn’t subject to our limited human vision.

He is the Door to Life.Oh that’s some good news to me.  It means that regardless of how hot the flaming arrow the enemy sends my way may be or what kind of a mess I may walk myself into, God will not change His mind concerning the life His Son purchased for me.  The same is true for you Sweet One and here’s more good news –no matter how many translations I looked at I couldn’t find a single one that said “ I came that they may dig in with their fingernails, grit their teeth, and worry their way into glory.”  Nor could find a translation of John 10:10 with an asterisk indicating that there were exceptions to this verse so you cannot possibly be the one person in all the ages that this passage does not apply to.  See,

we cannot mess it up so badly that God changes His mind about His love for us or about the way He wants to raise us up for Kingdom purposes.

The same God who brought you through fire and water – a wall of despair on the right and a wall of destruction on the left – kept your feet from slipping and delivered you to a place of abundance is alive and well within you this very moment.  And the Spirit of God has not come so you might simply survive—He has come so that you may thrive.

He has crushed the head of your enemy with the heel of Jesus Christ so not one obstacle stands between you and the Father.  Jesus Christ has overcome them all so that you and I, those who believe in their hearts and confess with their mouths that Jesus is Lord, can not only approach the throne of grace with confidence – we are welcome to live there!

Do we get that?  I’m not certain I do.  I hope you’re further along in the process than I am because too often I find myself unaware of being in the Presence of God.  I too often confine Him to my “quiet time” or to Sunday mornings and leave behind the all-encompassing knowledge that He is always with me.  And that’s when it begins – hanging on by my fingernails, gritting my teeth, fretting and stewing about life from one day into the next.  I forget God and I remember me and when I’m at the center of me – well, suffice to say nothing goes well.

I put my own slant on life and quickly become consumed by myself—beleaguered by insecurity, embittered by rejection, and eaten alive by someone else’s blessings.  But even then, God does not change His mind concerning me and the Blood of Jesus still flows for me.

Isn’t that something?  Standing before Him, in all my “me”, and He doesn’t change His mind.

Maybe you have those less-than moments too, when you stand before Him in all that is “you” and He doesn’t change His mind.

And we’re left in awe and wondering over and over again, “Oh Lord, why do you love me so?”

When I was beleaguered and bitter,     

totally consumed by envy,

I was totally ignorant, a dumb ox     

in your very presence.

I’m still in your presence,     

but you’ve taken my hand.

You wisely and tenderly lead me,     

and then you bless me.

You’re all I want in heaven!     

You’re all I want on earth!

When my skin sags and my bones get brittle,     

God is rock-firm and faithful.

Look! Those who left you are falling apart!     

Deserters, they’ll never be heard from again.

But I’m in the very presence of God—     

oh, how refreshing it is!

I’ve made Lord God my home.     

Psalm 73:23-28 MSG

I want off the merry-go-round that constantly spins me back to the place where I begin and God is forgotten.  I want the life my Pastor calls “present-time-Christ-conscious living.”  Centered on my God, revolving around my Jesus, and led by the Spirit.  Not hit-and-miss, but all day every day—standing so close that the shadow of refreshment falls over me day-by-day, moment-by-moment.

Girlfriend, that’s what we were made for, life in His Presence—His overflowing, to the full, abundant Presence.  So you leave yourself behind, tuck yourself inside the refuge of His wing and make your home there.  Don’t forget where you live for one single moment.  The place of heart refreshment, soul renewal, and spirit rest will not be found apart from Him.  Move through this life so closely connected to Him that His shadow covers you from head-to-toe and in that shade Sister, I promise, based on the authority of His Word, you will find what your heart is longing for.

He who dwells in the shelter

of the Most High

will rest in the shadow of

the Almighty.

Psalm 91:1Picture of Refreshment

This post is part of the #mywritingprocess blog tour. I was invited to participate by the most encouraging young woman I have the privilege of doing cyber life with. You can find her, Spirit-filled and heart full of Jesus, at http://igivegodalltheglory.wordpress.com/. I cannot tell you how amazed I am that God has seen fit to take Glimpsed Glory around the world to more than 70 countries at this point. Oh, how I pray it is encouraging every Sister that visits to stand strong in the faith and to live well in His Name. I’d love it if you would join the journey by following the blog and having new post notifications sent straight to your email. You can also find Glimpsed Glory on facebook with daily encouragement and @glimpsedglory at twitter. Thanks for stopping by and thanks to I give God all the Glory for the opportunity – Keep shouting His praise from the mountaintops Miss Jennifer!

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Blessed is She . . . Really?

7 May

Do you notice that the times “Why God?” forms in our hearts and dances in our brains are most often the times when we are not thrilled with the path life might be taking at the moment?  If you and I were to glance back over our shoulders at the last blessing we noticed, would we find the “Why God?” poised in our souls or on the tip of our tongues?

I chose the word “noticed” in conjunction with blessing because I truly believe that His good works are our constant companions.  And I take Him at His Word when He says that He came to give us life, not a less-than, grit your teeth, hang on by your fingernail kind of life, no Sweet One our Savior blesses with life to the FULL . . .

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. John 10:10

Whether we have eyes that desire to see the good gifts or hearts that ache to acknowledge the blessing, is a different question all together.

So, when might be the last time you, when might be the last time I, had eyes to see the blessings, the good gifts of God, and said

“Why God? . . . Why have you blessed me so?”

The Wonder of Blessing

When was the last occasion we just shook our heads in wonder that the God of the universe would stoop down from heaven specifically for us?  To show such kindness toward us?  To dote on us the way He does?  To flat out declare His heart for us in real and tangible ways?

The last post I wrote about the idea of being “forgiven much” and I asked you to consider that the concept of being forgiven much or being forgiven little—originates in the mind of man – not in the mind of God.  It’s a human perspective based on the human penchant to size things up according to our own standards.  We crawl up on the throne of our lives, look around us, measure life, and then we decide – we make ourselves the judges.

And it seems to me, that this inclination to view life from a temporal, human vantage point invades all of our thinking – including our perception of blessings.  There are songs written about the “blessings in disguise” and “the picture we can’t see” that really bring home the notion, and dare I say the truth, that blessings often don’t look the way our human minds think they should and they certainly do not feel to our hearts the way we expect them to.

Who would think that a blessing would be painful?  Who would think that good gifts would make our hearts ache?  Who would think that blessing is present when God says “No” to our prayers?  We want Him to bless a certain way, to choose only those good gifts for us that feel a certain way—

  • We want our blessings to behave!  And might it be, we want our God to behave as well?

This particular thing is a blessing because it turned out how I wanted it to turn out.  That particular thing has a beautiful red bow on it—it looks exactly like I think a blessing should look.  Everything unfolded just the way I wanted it to and it feels sweet to my soul –what a blessing!  I look.  I measure.  I judge.  Either forgetting or ignoring that my God has a view from outside space and time that I couldn’t comprehend even if I could see it.  Either forgetting or ignoring that my God, in His Sovereignty, thinks with a heart and mind that I can’t fathom.   I forget and I ignore that my God cannot be unfaithful to His nature and I fail to remember that His nature is LOVE.  And I look, I measure, I judge.

It’s been a week on Biddinger Boulevard.  Brett’s wound, the one he has been struggling with since November 2012 – yes, 2012 – has taken another step backward.  I was at the hospital this week for x-rays on the lung that collapsed because of pain and breathing issues.  Britt is still enduring the side effects of the six month course of treatment for the endometriosis and I think wondering if the cure is worse than the disease.  We watched good friends go through the agony of saying goodbye to a loved one.  We sat with folks who cried over the choices of their children.  Our souls were rocked when a family member rejected the truth of the Savior.

I bet your week was similar.  Life – messy life – was active all around you.  It pressed in on every side and maybe it just didn’t wear the face of blessing you or I expected it to wear.    Maybe the Apostle Paul was experiencing those same kind of feelings and trying to focus his eyes and his heart with some godly vision when he wrote 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 . . .

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

  • He knew what the situation looked like to his human eyes but more importantly . . . .HE KNEW HIS GOD.

He chose not to look, measure, and judge from his finite human mind.  He surrendered his heart and his vision to the Heart and the Vision of the One He knew to be LOVE.

And a few verses later that same pen, full of the Holy Spirit, –living life to the full — with the breath of God in every stroke wrote . . . 2 Corinthians 4:15-18

All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. 

Therefore we do not lose heart.

Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

  • The blessing did not wear the face he expected it to, but he looked past the face and into the Heart of the Great I AM.

See the adjustment of his vision.  See the surrender of his own limited heart.  See him grab a hold of what he knows to be true, fall to his knees and declare that he trusts the One who holds eternity in His hand. And Girlfriend, the Heart of the Great I AM beats to bless you today. Lives to bless you today. Loves to bless you today.

Sweet One, the I AM IS!

The I AM IS  

2 Samuel 22:17-18 . . . . 

  • He is the One who reaches into the deep waters and rescues you.                    

Psalm 66:12 . . . .

  • He is One who brings you through fire and water to the place of abundance.

Psalm 116:7 . . . .

  • He is the One who has been good to your soul.

Hebrew 6:19 . . . .

  • He is the One who anchors you firm and secure in any storm.

1 Peter 5:7 . . . .

  • He is the One who wants your troubles because He cares for you.

Romans 8:28 . . . .

  • He is the One who works all things together for the good of those who love Him.

Oh Beloved, the I AM is just IT!

And blessed is she who believes that what the Lord has said to her – read that list again, verses from the Old and verses from the New—will be accomplished.

Romans 8:28

 

Sweet One, it is done. You believe and you cling to every true and accurate word of God.  The blessing has been given to you and He has come to make His home with you.  Resist the temptation to look, measure and judge with your own eyes.  Look past the face of your circumstance and trust the Heart that beats to bless you.  Fix your eyes on Glory, lift your heart toward heaven and KNOW the Heart of the One who knows you.

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