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Come what may…

Have you ever made a plans to do something and then something happens and turns everything upside down?

Yesterday evening, October 2, 2014, a horrible storm came through Dallas/Ft Worth. The storm didn’t last long, but many are still feeling the effects with no electricity, closed schools, debris clean up, and a loss of mass transportation. Many people’s plans were completely smashed due to a storm that lasted only moments, really. I can expect that there are plenty of those people who are bummed out right now.

How many times in our life do we allow “storms” to get in our way? Probably more times than we would like. Even those that only last a moment can change our attitude for the longest time. As a Christian, should we allow that to happen?

Look at Paul’s writing in Phillipians. He describes his attitude towards his current situation in chapter 4:

I’m glad in God, far happier than you would ever guess—happy that you’re again showing such strong concern for me. Not that you ever quit praying and thinking about me. You just had no chance to show it. Actually, I don’t have a sense of needing anything personally. I’ve learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I’m just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I’ve found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am. I don’t mean that your help didn’t mean a lot to me—it did. It was a beautiful thing that you came alongside me in my troubles. (‭Philippians‬ ‭4‬:‭10-14‬ MSG)

If we take every storm in stride and trust God that He will take care of us, no matter what, then we can make it through a lot of things.

Dallas/Ft Worth is going to be just fine after this crazy storm (1) there were no fatalities – Praise God! and (2) we are used to crazy weather so we make the most of it.

Know who you are in Him and be content in every sotuaion. That way, storms no longer rule your life…Christ does!

Be blessed

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Normally Not-Normal

I recently took a personality test and got the same Myers Briggs result – INFJ. Per the results, I am a part of around 1% of the population. In no way am I “normal.” This was a hard fact for me to swallow most if my life until recently. I just wanted to be like everyone else, but that is not the way it is designed. We are to be His light. How can we do that if everyone is alike?

To give those who suffer from feeling out of place, remember this scripture:

Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out; you formed me in my mother’s womb. I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration—what a creation! You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, The days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day. (‭Psalm‬ ‭139‬:‭13-16‬ MSG)

God made you the way you are for a reason. Don’t discredit it. Pray that God gives you His eyes so you may see who you are in Him rather than who you are in the world.

Is it always easy for me to accept me as me? No, but God continues to remind me that He loves me more than I can fathom. The same goes for you.

Be blessed.

Not Normal

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Cleaning the Wound

There are very few people who have never been really hurt emotionally…and most of those are probably still in grade school. The older we get, the more we find ourselves hurt. As we walk through life, it doesn’t matter what we do, who we serve, or how we live our life…we will get hurt. Sometimes, we set ourselves up for that hurt and other times we do absolutely nothing to cause that hurt. Either way, the hurt is a result of living in a fallen world. How do we get over that hurt, though? There is a chance that the process to heal can, in fact, be painful too.

The journey toward healing is very interesting. As a counseling student, I met many hurting people and there was one thing that every case had in common, walking through the pain to receive healing can be the hardest thing we will ever endure. Why is that? It all depends on the levels of hurt, how long it took us to deal with that hurt, and where we currently are in our development…or how many parts of the journey we were forced to skip because the dysfunction of those around us. Regardless, it never is easy to get over the pain of this life.

Is healing worth it, then? Absolutely!!!! We need healing, folks. God, in fact, loves healing. Look at Jesus and how many people He healed throughout the Bible – physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. I am not sure if we can actually put a number on how many people he reached out in that way because there are so many people who came to Him. I am not going to try to count, but as reference, please see Luke 7:21-23, Mark 5:34, and John 5:8-9 to see examples of how Jesus healed people.

Did God’s healing end when Christ ascended into heaven? Emphatically no! You can receive healing just like those in the Bible because God sent the Holy Spirit. Acts 1:7-8 says “’You don’t get to know the time. Timing is the Father’s business. What you’ll get is the Holy Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit comes on you, you will be able to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, all over Judea and Samaria, even to the ends of the world.’” Through the Holy Spirit, that lives in us (Ephesians 4:30), we can do amazing things…including heal. Healing can come from relationships God sets up, the prayers of saints, or healing through counseling. Whatever God leads you to do, please do.

What happens when we start down that road? Why can this journey be painful when we are supposed to be receiving healing and restoration? The scenario I always gave those who sought counseling through the site I worked was this one – please forgive me if you have a weak stomach –

When I was in 1st grade, I got hurt playing kickball. Not only was I a girly-girl, loving frilly skirts and cute shoes, I also loved being one of the guys. A contradiction, I know, but I have never been normal in my life. 🙂 As I was running to a base, a person standing close to me pelted me with the kickball. Being a scrawny girl (at the time…hehe), I fell pretty hard on the concrete parking lot. Both of my knees got completely scrapped up…pretty gruesome. When I got home that day, my mom decided to treat my scraps with Hydrogen Peroxide. For those who have ever had any cuts or scraps treated with this concoction knows how painful it can be. I believe I screamed…loud…the first time she poured it on. I watched as the white bubbles brought up little bits of rocks, dirt, and bodily fluids (told you it was gross!). Every time my mom treated me with Hydrogen Peroxide, the less things came up. Eventually, the scabs went away and now, you cannot even tell what happened.

Can you imagine, though, if I waited to treat it, if I let the dirt, and the rocks to sit in my skin and fester? The scars and the pain would be over the top. The journey of emotional healing is just like this…except it is with our souls. We must deal with the things down deep. If you don’t, the damage can get so bad that you can hurt those around you.

May I suggest that if this blog post touched you in some way, that you might want to consider help? First, I suggest that you cry out to God. Just like Moses, David, Daniel, and Paul did in their lifetimes, God will come to your rescue. Listen to what He has to say. If you don’t, healing cannot fully happen. Take heed of those He puts in your life. Whether you can be healed through prayer only, or if you need to join prayer with counseling or some sort of mentorship, do it! Take care of you and all will be well. Second, lay your ego down. It only gets in the way. Allow God to bring everything to you in this time of need and rely on that. Pride will only cause the wound to get deeper. Healing comes when we become vulnerable to the God who breathed life into us. Ultimately, the greatest medicine we can accept is the Father’s perfect grace and love.

I will leave this blog with one profound statement:

Lay it at the cross and let Him carry you.

Be blessed.

Cross

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While You Are Waiting: Being Bold Volume 2

Waiting is a hard thing to do. There are times we may wait for years before we see the things God has laid out for us. In this interim, we must deal with our surroundings in a way that it doesn’t detract from our future. In other words, we must not become stagnant, bitter and angry. How do we do that? We stay humble. The definition of being humble is “not proud; not thinking of (or showing) yourself as better than other people.” Humility is a subject that is talked about a lot in churches. It also is mentioned many times in the Bible – 3751 to be exact. I know that this subject has been spoken on a lot, but because it is so important and, dare I say, because it is one of the hardest things for us to master, let’s dig into it and find out how we can remain humble in a season of waiting.

Being bold is not just about waiting – it is about everything that we do. Thus, we must let it permeate every part of us- which includes how we treat others around us. Training oneself to put yourself last takes some conscious decisions. It is not easy. There are some key people in our lives that we need to deliberately be humble to. Some, it will be easy to put them first, but others, not so much. God does care about our feelings. He knows our heart (Psalm 139:1-4) and understands why, when we interact with some people, humility is not our first thought. He does not want us to hurt, but He wants us to live our lives for Him, thus loving others (1 John 3:16). In doing so, we will see His hand and know His victory (Deut. 20:4; 1 Peter 5:5).

The first in the group of people we must humble ourselves to is those who lead us. Whether you are someone who volunteers here and there at your church or someone who sits on the Pastoral staff, we all have leaders. 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13 says that we must show respect and wholehearted love to our leaders because of their work. We must show those who have to make the hard decisions honor. King David showed King Saul great respect despite the fact that David was the anointed King and Saul was not doing a good job ruling the kingdom. It didn’t matter – the man that was after God’s own heart knew that he needed to honor the man in power as long as he held that position (1 Sam. 24).

In turn, the next group of people who we must show honor and humility to are those who serve us in our ministries. Whether you are a top ministry leader or a lower tier leader in a church, you have people who work for your cause. In any of these cases, consider yourself blessed. Why? 1 Peter 5:2-4 talks about how we need to care for the flock that God entrusted to us – not to get anything out of it, but because we are serving others. In doing this, our reward will be great in Heaven. So we should be just like Jesus in John 13 and kneel before our people and be the example for those who are watching us. Thus, we are planting seeds and building other ministries with even minute acts of kindness.

The third group of people that every Christian should be humble to is those who look up to us in our journey. We all have a story and we all have a past. Anyone in ministry has a story that will reach someone. As you walk your journey, there will be people who look up to you – who admire where you have come from and want to see themselves in that stage of journey at some point in their own future. Philippians 2:3 states “Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.” In the business of life, we forget that we need to make time for those around us. Remember to take time for those who may really need us in our lives.

Alongside the ones above, we now move onto the more unpleasant people in our lives. There are a group of people who, in our season of waiting, we will see get the chances that we so desire. Regardless of how upset this may make us, we must still be humble. If it is God who did this, then there is an opportunity in the future that He has planned that we cannot yet see (Prov. 3:5-, Jer. 29:11). If it is the evil one who is orchestrating this, then we need to get angry with him – for trying to hurt us and for using those in our lives to try to destroy us. To truly get back at him, celebrate those around us in their success. This way God wins!

Finally, we must be humble to those who try to purposely, even deviously take us out. This is the hardest type of humility by far. When we are waiting to be elevated, knowing that there is more to this life and then we encounter someone who is making this climb even so much harder. It Is our first instinct to try to do the same to them – take them out before they do us. We must remember that God is always faithful (Psalm 36:5) so we should trust that His plan will go forth regardless. It is our duty to not retaliate. Romans 12:17-19 says to never take revenge and never try to pay back evil with evil. We must live in honor and in peace. Let the Lord fight our battles. How bold do you say that is?

Being bold is not easy. There are many things on this journey that could trip us up, but there is one thing we all need to remember: “He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less” John 3:30.

Blessings.

This is a statue at my university, Dallas Baptist University. It captures Jesus washing a disciple's feet.
This is a statue at my university, Dallas Baptist University. It captures Jesus washing a disciple’s feet.
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Be Bold

 

Mr. Webster defines boldness as “not afraid of danger or difficult situations; very confident in a way that may seem rude or foolish.” Being bold in a world that is ever changing seems to be politically correct right now. We are told that You Only Live Once, so why not eat the 1,000 calorie cookie, date the bad boy, or party all night long? Well, what if, instead of being bold for the approval of others, we were bold for the approval of God. Is that as easy or as politically correct as living a life per the YOLO philosophy?

 

Can I share with you what I think the boldest thing we can do in our world today as a Christian? Is it the Christian that constantly promotes themselves on social media as “Apostle” or “Prophet” or posting pictures of themselves on the same social media describing how amazing they are when they are ministering? I personally believe that there is a place and a need for self-promotion in our world today, but most certainly do not believe that this is truly the boldest thing a Christian can do.  No, the boldest thing a Christian can do is wait…wait for the Lord to do what He wants done in our lives. It is also one of the hardest things to do.

 

I am not speaking of waiting as a form of being passive or to “decide without trying to change anything” according to Mr. Webster. Waiting in the sense that you know there is a destiny for your life, you know that God has plans for you, but you are allowing Him to form those things in your life within the element of time. Praying, reading the Bible, serving in a ministry – knowing that this is not what you are destined to always do, but allowing God to get you ready. The people around you may call you foolish or in danger of not doing anything with your life, but you KNOW that there is more. There might even be a time when you feel like it will never happen, like if you wait another moment that your chance will slip through your hands, but you hear the Holy Spirit telling you to keep on waiting, that He has it all under control. This is the boldest thing I think we as Christians can do. It is also a sign of humility, showing God that we know He is greater than us or our will.

 

Let’s look at the life of Jesus Christ. Luke 3:23 states that Jesus began His ministry at the age of 30 – speaking from someone who is yet to turn 30 (I have 1.5 years left), that is a long time to wait to achieve your destiny. We all know that Jesus is the Son of God, who can do all things and, right this very moment, is sitting at the right hand of God. That is a far greater achievement that we can ever boast about. Why did He have to wait so long?

 

Let’s look at Luke 2:39-52. Jesus, the Messiah, at age 12, was found by his worried parents after 3 days of looking for him in the temple among the teachers – listening and asking questions. He in fact amazed those teachers by His answers and understanding. When He told His parents that He was going about His father’s business, they in fact, didn’t understand what He meant. Why? Because He was just 12 years old.  Was the Christ capable of starting His 3 year teaching journey at that time? Yes, I do believe He was ready, but no one else was ready to hear Him – Jesus did not have credibility as such a young man. At that time and in that culture, manhood began at age 30. I also know that there is a vast difference between a 15 year old giving his life up and a 33 year old giving his life up. Jesus needed to wait that time, not for Him, but for those whom He was reaching. Maybe God is not asking us to wait for us, but asking us to wait for those who need us.

Trusting God is why we wait. Proverbs 3:5-6 says “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take.” Don’t get caught up in this world and how fast things are going, thinking that you should be doing the same. Just remember that God has a perfect plan and He knows what He is doing. Follow Him and your life will be prosperous!

Blessings.

 

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I am a Doer

I am a Doer – I am the person that people call on when things need to get done. I will run down halls, climb under things, and handle 5 stations at once to get a task accomplished. Is this a bad thing? Conceptually, no, it is not. Can it become a problem – absolutely.

As I was doing my thing this morning, God spoke to me – He asked me “What is the purpose of you doing all these things?” Am I doing this to bring Him glory or to bring myself glory? Wow, that was something I needed to really think about. Am I a person who is notoriously narcissistic? I don’t think so. Do I have some pride issues? Yes.

Do I believe that this was 100% a pride issue? No, I don’t. This was as much of an issue of insecurity as it was pride. Basically, I am looking for my value from those around me. Deep down, I want everyone to see me as someone important, someone who is needed. I could go into why I may feel this way, but that is another post. So, for several reasons, I needed to ask God’s forgiveness.

Dysfunction is always a sign that we are putting more effort into one aspect of our life and causing us to be off balance. Thus, we cause our one area of our life to be overly noticed and the other(s) get neglected. Do we need others in our lives? Emphatically, yes! Do we need to live for others in our lives solely? Absolutely not! We must live for the Almighty who lives in Us. To please Him is all we need to do. Everything else is just an added blessing.

What if some of the greats sought the need for other’s approval over God’s? Joseph wouldn’t have been able to save his family from the famine if he would have given up at any point along the way. Moses wouldn’t have led the Israelites out of Egypt if he would have buckled when everyone didn’t believe him. Jesus Christ wouldn’t have hung on the cross for the world’s salvation if he would have let the Pharisees’ disapproval overwhelm him. If we crumble under the pressure of needing other’s approval, we could be missing out of why God created us.

I am challenging you today to look at your life. Is there any area of your life that you can identify with my situation I described above? Are you looking for the approval of others where you shouldn’t? If so, know that you are a beautiful creation of our Father and were created just as you are! You don’t need others’ approval if above your Creater’s.

I also challenge you to look at your life and see if there is any dysfunction – do you have an area of your life that you are putting more focus than you should, causing you to be off balance? If so, give everything over to God. He will help you walk those things out because He wants you to reach your full potential.

Remember that you are precious whether others know it or not. You are no mistake!

Blessings.

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Starfish

Creatures of the animal world have many amazing ways to survive in the wild.  There is a butterfly who’s wings look like the eyes so that predators will be afraid of them.  Porcupines have large quills that will stick in the predators’ body if they get too close. These qualities help ensure the longevity of their individual lives in a dog eat dog world.

An interesting animal is a Starfish.  This is a beautiful creature that lives in the sea.  There are around 1,800 kinds of starfish that live in the sea.  One trait of this amazing sea critter is how, if a predator removes one or more of their arms, the starfish will actually regenerate itself.  When it does, though, the whole animal will be a different being entirely.  It is like it started over again.

When I took my Trauma Counseling class, one theme that seems to be in everyone who has been through a trauma is the idea of a “New Normal.”  That is, there is no way that a person can go back to the way it was and must live with who they are after the trauma.  It is like a predator biting off 2 of our 5 arms.  We must regenerate the 2 arms lost to survive and through that experience, we become a new creature.  This is often an uncomfortable process for people, but when we add God into it, then it doesn’t seem as bad.

1 Peter 5:10 (NLT) states “ In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation.” God knew that this would happen, He knew where this journey would take us.  As Joseph, standing in front of his brothers when they came to Egypt due to the famine, knowing that the reason Joseph went through all of that was so that he could eventually save his family from death.

Maybe a better way we can handle the traumas in our lives is by embracing the journey and loving the person it has made us.  We may be going through this to help people down the road.  There is a purpose for everything!

Blessings.

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