“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways highter than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9

His knowledge and wisdom are far greater than any human’s! Why do we strive to make His plans and purposes conform to ours? Why don’t we rely more on Him to guide us? Why do we step out in front of Him instead of allowing him to lead the way?  Why do we want things our way instead of waiting for His ways?   We allow our desires, needs , and wants to get in the way of His ultimate Will for our lives. Jeremiah 29:11 gives us hope  as it encourages us to trust in Him for all things. He sees the big picture and already knows the what the future holds for each of us. He doesn’t want harm to come to us. He promises prosperity and hope for a wonderful future… but we need to trust in Him as we open our lives to accept the direction that he gives.Surrender to Him and be open to hear His voice.

I know many of you are probably thinking…if I could see his thoughts and ways it sure would make it easier.. .. I sure could trust Him more. It would make it easier to understand.  But you and I both know that God doesn’t work that way…..He doesn’t need to explain himself! He is God!! He sure doesn’t make it easy! But when you step back and realize that by doing things  His way… we consequently are learning to trust in his promises and faithfulness! Eventually we will receive an explanation and understand the difficulties and circumstances we have encountered. But right now, if He explained everything and gave us full insight to all His reasoning we wouldn’t have to trust as much. It’s like when you make a decision regarding your child and they ask” but why, mom?” and your response is “because I said so, one day you will understand!”…Can you hear God saying that to you?? One day we will understand, but right now…..know that His ways are greater than ours!!

It makes me think of a conversation that I had with a friend last week…..as we sat and reflected on how God was working in her life , I was reminded of how amazing God was. A few years ago she was desperate for God to answer her prayers regarding some issues in her life. She sat at my kitchen table and prayed for Him to answer a specific prayer and I remember saying to her….”you need to pray for God’s Will not yours”…..of course that didn’t go over too well at the time! However, now as we look back and we see how God was at work…we see how He answered her prayer according to His will…plans to prosper her, not to harm her…plans to give her hope and a future. His ways are definately better than our own!!!  Thy Will be done! Praise the Lord!

Here we go again…conviction by God! Have you ever been at the point where you are constantly saying “God, would you speak to me”? And then, boldly he smacks you on the side of the head with a two by four! Ouch! Then, you realize that he has been speaking, maybe even yelling, but you were the one who had the wall up! You were the one who was blocking him, not the other way around! How many times do we question where He is and then realize that He has been there all along but it was us that were  far off in the distance….pushing His truth and His presence  further away. Spend time in the Word and in prayer….that is where He speaks!

Well, the last two weeks have been really tough for me as I have  put on the happy face and said goodbye to my church family. I  put on the smile (with tears welling in my eyes) and say “thank you” to so many that have touched our lives. There is excitement in the voices of those who say “ goodbye”  and joy in their faces as they pray for the Lord to direct and bless our family in the path before us. The support and encouragement has been overwhelming and encouraging. But, in times of quiet and reflection, I have been stuck in a not so good place. A place of reserve. A place of panic. A place where I am holding back. A place of tears. A place where I pour out to God and I admit my anger, my fears, my unwillingness to go…to follow and surrender to His plan. I am going….but I know my heart is not where it needs to be. I realize that. I want that to change…I want to be excited. I want to be supportive. I want to follow God’s plan. I want to use what God has taught me and given to me to reach out to others. But then I shut down and begin to believe the lies Satan speaks to me….your too weak, you can’t do it, you don’t know enough, …..

But God wants to use me…..He wants me to bear fruit! Christ’s final command to his disciples  in the gospel of  Mattew was “Go and make disciples of all nations”. The first word says it all…”GO” and then “make disciples”. We are not to stay where we are…we are to spread His truth and help others to grow and become disciples. I am studying the Psalms and this week I studied Psalm 128. Read Psalm 128:1-3…..I had to stop and read and re-read those verses many times as I struggled with my emotions and His truth….Blessings come to those who fear the Lord and who walk in His ways!!! I came to realize that through following Him, my heart will change and the blessings will come….in His time. If I keep working in His name, “it will go well for me”.  Two by four hit number 1!!

In my study, I was instructed to look up Luke 19:21-27 where it talks about the servant who did not increase his money  but instead hid it and kept it safe. The king punished the man because he did not invest wisely what he had been given. This parable really spoke to me this week as it made me look at the gifts God has given to me and the fact that He has entrusted that to me to use and to bear more fruit…not to hide. Not to pull back. But instead to continue to grow, continue to learn, continue to share and reach out to others about the Love of Christ. God has blessed me with a heart for women….to reach out and to connect in some way. He is telling me to continue to reach even though I feel inadequate and unable. He is telling me not to hide!!! Two by four hit number 2!

Are you holding back? Are you reaching out to others?  Are you bearing much fruit?

John 15:8 “When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great Glory to my Father.”

John 15:16 “You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name.

As I read the Parable of the Vine and the Branches  I realized that I really don’t need to get side swiped by another two by four…. Read John 15:2  I don’t want to be cut off…..I’ll take the pruning!:)

How about you?

Psalm 126:5-6 “Those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy. They weep as they go to plant their seed, but they sing as they return with the harvest.”

Psalm 27:13-14 “Wait for the Lord;be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”

I am currently studying the Psalms. It is amazing to me how the Word of God  touches us right where we are. I am struggling right now as I am preparing to leave my home church…where I came to know Christ and where I have grown as a Christian the last 6 years. A place where relationships have been built and where lifelong friends have been made. A place where God has guided my path in areas of service and where God has touched my life in amazing ways through His people and His Word. He has taught me about the importance of prayer, about the importance of seeking Him and spending time in His word, and the importance of sharing his teachings and reaching out to others. I know that He will continue to teach me wherever I am and that He will provide for my family no matter where we are. I trust Him. He is faithful. But , the tears are still there.

Psalm 126:5-6 is very powerful as it teaches us that even when we grieve that it is not a permanent condition. Our tears can be seeds that will grow into a harvest of joy! God is going to use these tears of mine and turn them  into a blessing….in His time! I know that He keeps His promises and that if I wait patiently and continue to be strong that He will bring on that harvest. I am looking foward to seeing what He has planned and HOW he is going to turn my tears into joy!

I am reminded that it is a journey and that He sees the bigger picture.We do know that God is ahead of us, He is also behind us, and He is surrounding us with His grace , protection, and strength.  We are entering an awesome opportunity to help a church grow and to reach out to a growing community with young families. As we begin this new journey may we stay focused on Christ and His people….His Bride.

Bring it on Lord…bring on the JOY!

I am reading THE SHACK by William Paul Young…..I have never been a “reader”…but as I am “maturing” (or getting older) I am finding myself taking time to just sit in quiet and read more whether it is a book, a devotion, or most likely the Bible. It is a calming time for me and it helps me to reflect on life and search deeper for what God is expecting from me. I have never really been one to just sit ,so this has been a blessing in disguise for me……

I wanted to share with you something I have been feeling for a while and which has been reinforced to me through reading THE SHACK….Jesus is talking to the main character, Mack,  and they are discussing  Christ’s Bride….the church.  Mack is trying to see the church as the woman that Christ is in love with and he says “She’s not the place I go to on Sunday’s”….then Jesus replies…”that’s because you are only seeing the institution, a man made system. That is NOT what I came to build. What I see are people and their lives, a living and breathing community of all those who love me, not buildings and programs.” WOW….does that hit anybody hard like it did me?? Have we made church into an institution? Constant meetings, committees that deal with power struggles within the leaders, programs that lose their ultimate focus on Christ, bickering and jealousy, growth focus on “the building” instead of the ”people”…..just some thoughts to ponder.

It should be simpler than that shouldn’t it?  It’s all about relationships and simply sharing life. It begins with a Relationship with CHRIST. A true relationship….authentic, honest, and open. Spending time with HIM. Studying and searching His Word. PRAYER. CHRIST and YOU. THEN, from there flows relationships with others.Growing together in Christ.  It’s all about being open and available to those around us in need. Giving. Loving. It’s all about being vulnerable and authentic before one another so that we can learn and grow from each other and in Christ. Sharing His Love. Sharing His Truths. GROWING TOGETHER. Simply sharing life!!! 

In our churches, Christ’s Bride….. What is it about? Is it about the building? Is it about the programs??

Christ would say NO….I see the PEOPLE!

I pray and hope that YOU do too!!

I know many of you have this same question for God!! Where am I going? What purpose do I have ? Where do you want me to serve?  How many of you have wondered why God doesn’t give us a cloud to follow by day or a pillar of fire by night like he did with the Israelites?  It would give us greater direction wouldn’t it? We would be following him more closely wouldn’t we? Or would we? Why doesn’t he just speak to  us and tell us what to do and where to go? Would we listen if he did? Or would we be like Jonah and run the other way or like Moses and make excuses ?  Maybe He does give us clearer direction than we think, but our hearts are clouded by our own desires? As I sit and ponder this question…God, where do you want me to go? ….may I open my heart to HIS desire and not my own. Pray and Meditate on His Word today….deny yourself, lay it all down at the cross and follow Him!

Mark 8:34 (New International Version)

I have been thinking about growth lately. I watch as my children are hitting different stages in their lives and I wonder where God is going to take them. What path will they follow? Will they believe His truth in the Bible? Will they allow His Truths to guide their ways? Will they desire a personal relationship with our Lord? ….I think of the verse in Proverbs 22 that says “Train a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not turn from it.” It is our responsibility as parents to provide knowledge to our children about God’s love, grace, and mercy. It is our responsibility to teach His truths in order for them to grasp the direction and promises that our Heavenly Father has for them.We pray. We Hope. We Trust. We turn to God for the rest…..bring our children close to you Lord….allow those seeds to sprout, to take route, and to grow into beautiful blossoms!