The Power of Attitude.....

Earlier today as I was chatting with a friend about attitude, this kind of played out underneath my typing fingers. It is an excerpt of our chat time, so no revealing things are here except the 'crux' of the matter.
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Beloved Friend, we are all given that attitude at the moment of salvation. (One of a brighter, more positive outlook).

I would agree life makes it harder at times to have it, yet, it is not so much a bright side I see, as much as it is the 'Bright One' I see. Dr. Adrian Rogers always said outlook could put the strongest person in the throes of depression, but up look could empower a person because it changes your outlook to a faith-look. It seems so trivially trite, but it is true. The more I seek of God and His perspective on my life, and those around me whom I love, the more and more I see Him in each part of it. It changes the 'context' in which I view the things that are happening, or are not happening, as the case may be.

The older I get the more I am looking at each situation with a conscious thought of, 'What is God up to here?'. It is most freeing, as it makes you stop and consider that He really might be up to something big and long-term, and even more, that you might never know the full ramification of what He is doing.

To read the Bible as both a historical document, as well as a love letter, both authored by God, is to begin to understand we each have a role to play in a drama of the ages, and that even seemingly small, insignificant (to us) things might be a really big part of the plan for a future family member that we do not even know yet.

I will give you just one example in the here and now, because it took my breath away with the sheer simplicity of the act, but yet what it produced was astonishing. Just a short few weeks ago the CMA show was on and Brad Paisley, having won the entertainer of the year award, made this statement, and I paraphrase here, 'When I was a little boy, my granddaddy put a small guitar in my hand and said, boy you need to learn to play this thing, It will keep you company, it will soothe your soul, and it will be a lifetime companion.'
I remember sitting here in my office watching and hearing him say it, and thinking just how much it affected me at that moment. It was a slap-you-upside-the-head moment for me. Once again reminding me that even little things I do or say in the lives of my children and grand-children can have VERY long-lasting effects, either for good or bad. If I choose to lean very hard on God and look to Him for my words and actions regarding these special ones I love so dearly, it allows me to get out of the way, and it allows Him full access. It also allows for His special eye to details in their lives to fully play out.

I am SURE Brad's grandaddy had no idea that just that one small act of a gift to his little grandson would so change Brad's life, and that indeed one day he would be using that learned ability to produce such amazing music. Not that I am condoning all his music, but you see where I am going with this. The final outcome was WAY bigger than the original thought.

Once again paraphrasing Dr. Rogers, "Happiness is a result of what happens, it is external. Joy is a result of what is within you as you are filled with the Holy Spirit, and you are consumed with the certainty of your eternity."

We are not a sum total of what happens to us, rather we are a sum total of who we are in Christ as believers. If I focused always on what was happening to me rather than the One who has allowed things into my life in order to produce a perfect masterpiece, I would become rather tiresome to others and myself. Instead, I can rest in the knowledge that God Himself is working to bring about a me who is more like Christ, and frankly, some days I am sure that is a lot harder job than others, but bless God, He is still working. When He is done up with me here, He will call me up there....that is a real power of attitude.

The Death of Dreams

Oh the pain that rages within.....

Lord, here we are, again. Why do I struggle with this so much?
Is it because once again, I have had to watch a dream die, or, am I just mad at You for not allowing me to have it my way? Frankly, I am pretty sure it is a mixture of both to be quite honest. Thankfully, I, at least, have reached the point in my walk as a Christian to understand I can feel these things, and You are big enough to handle them, and big enough to take me to the woodshed of correction.

So what is the real root of the problem here? In a nutshell, it is me, myself, and I.
I had a dream. I have more dreams.
I have plans, big plans. I want what I want!! Why can't you get on board God?
Woe is me, I have seen the enemy, and she lives within me. I am frustrated because 'I' did not get 'my' way. The reality of the sin of my attitude comes rushing in to condem me, and I hear that still, small voice say, 'Not my will, but Yours."
Yes, Lord, but, but, but.
There is no room in the Christians life for 'but'. Just who do we think we are? Did 'we' send our sinless Son into the world to die for the sins for the whole of mankind? The answer is an emphatic NO! This can mean He is the only one who has the right to have the whole of life laid out for us, with plans and opportunities for us, not only to draw near to Him for salvation, but by repetitive training, grow us more like His Son day by day. THAT is the plan.

Our plan has not one whit of merit in the grand scheme of things. Our plans must die, we must lay down our dreams and pick up His for us. This is where the sweet peace of resting in Him truly comes from. When we can reach the point of saying with a humble heart, 'Yes, Lord' and mean it, we then are set free from the striving for our own way.

So there it is, this life is not my own to do with what I want, I am not in control, I am not God. This life is not my plan, it is HIS. Therein lies the real truth of the matter, which is, if I am not God, then He certainly is, and His plan for my life is without a doubt perfect in His design, even when it doesn't meet 'my' own plans.

What dream has died today for you, or for me? Is it not true that they are dreams of what 'could have been', as well as dreams of 'what could be'. How are you and I going to handle this? We can become bitter, which will utterly destroy our relationship with Christ and with others, or we can agree with the Psalmist. "Thou, O LORD, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth." Ps. 86:15
Did you catch that? He is a God of compassion, being quite aware of our hurts when dreams die.
He knows your heart, as well as mine. The Psalmist goes on to say, "O LORD, how great are YOUR works! Your thoughts are very deep. A senseless man does not know, nor does a fool understand this." Ps. 92:5-6.
Dr. Adrian Rogers used to say, "God chooses for you what you would choose for yourself, if you had sense enough to choose it."What truth!
The Psalmist confirms this, we are senseless and foolish, in that we cannot know the bulk of history, nor our unique place in it, for Gods glory.
Today, though my heart is hurting, I can rest in the knowledge that even in my pitiful state of not knowing, nor understanding, God DOES know, HE DOES understand, and HE is God....I am not.

The Condemned Woman

Today I saw a video of the woman condemned, and the thought struck me that the one thing that Jesus did for her was to settle in her mind the reality of her freedom.

Do you realize what a profound victory we have over the lies of the enemy? In talking with others recently, I have realized that we carry 'lies' within us, and I believe these lies are some of what Jesus Christ was setting this condemned woman free from! What lies had men told her about herself, and for how long even? Jesus says we are women set free!!

Today I am embracing anew my 'freedom' in Christ from the whispers of the enemy. My every breath is of freedom, my every step is in freedom, my choices in how I spend my time speak of freedom, my every bite should be taken in FREEDOM! I am not judged, I am loved.
So are you, SO ARE YOU!

As I watched this woman tenatively reach out for His feet, I see myself. I approach with guilt, shame and more, but yet, just as He reached out for her hand to pull her UPRIGHT, He is still doing this and will do it for us! We are not meant to be 'dust-dwellers' for Jesus says, "Behold I have made all things new." We are 'upright' in His eyes, without blemish, without fault, without guilt.
Beloved ones, the whispers of lies of the enemy are Gone! We have new ears, and they should never ever hear the voice of the enemy again! Our ears should only always hear the voice of the One who set us FREE!
This is the WAY, walk in it! Do you realize we simply cannot walk if we are dwelling in the dust? We have to be upright to walk!!
The point here is this, He does the work of making us upright, we have to do the work of walking in Him! He made a choice, now we have to make one as well.
Glory to God, I am free, I am free, I am free....WE ARE FREE!
We can dance today like the healed lame man, we are healed and we are free!

The Enemy is Relentless, but God is Too!

I never cease to be amazed at the constant cunning and relentlessness of the enemy of the beloved children of God. As a believer, we are taught that he is like a roaring lion, prowling, seeking those he may wound, destroy, or devour.
Never have I seen it so strong as it has been in my life in the last few years. It has been one relentless attack after another, sometimes happening in such rapid-fire sucession that I barely had a chance to catch my breath between onslaughts.
Just this week as a wave of believers, brothers and sisters in Christ have come alongside of me to pray specifically for a 'deliverance' the enemy came in a place I was not looking for him.
He used a back door, a fire-wall that had not been protected. I confess, I was taken by suprise.
It should come as no suprise to us when we are enduring trials, being buffeted by the demonic hoard who worship the father of all lies, yet it still often catches us unawares. I have not yet come to the conclusion as to the 'why' of this, I only know it is a tactic he uses over and over.
Surely, as we continue in the journey of faith, it should get easier to spot the little foxes, and to spot them quicker.
Beloved ones I can tell you that indeed there was a victory in my soul tonight as I saw him try the sneak attack and I immediately recognized it for what it was. It was an approach that he thought sure I would not spot for what it was. I claim no credit for this, as I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was God alone who revealed the liar quickly to me.
The enemy is not picky in who he will use to produce that attack, it can be someone you love, and indeed it often is, because they have the easiest access to our very innermost emotions.
And the enemy loves to stir the emotions.
We must remain vigilant in watching for a sneak attack, even from within the walls of our own loved ones. It is there you must claim out loud immediately that it is what it is and refuse it any further ground. In the strong name of Jesus Christ and the power of His shed blood the enemy cannot continue to remain in the place where the name of Christ is being called upon. Resist the devil and he must flee, and so tonight I claim a victory for Christ in that He revealed, I resisted, and the enemy has fled.
I will continue to pray on for the 'deliverance' as it is not an option to do otherwise. I am sure the enemy will slink back to his hole to devise a new plan, but for today, for this moment, God and I have a victory over even the relentless enemy. Tomorrow is a day with enough of its own troubles, God will again be my Shield and Defender, my Strong Tower, my Deliverer, and my Revealer of Secrets. Tomorrow will contain yet another victory, for my LORD is ever faithful.

Words are Powerful Things.....

I am awestruck today at the power of words.
They seem to be these benign little things that come out of our mouths, yet they wield a power greater than we realize.
Scripture says they have the power to burn a forest, and that is true.

Once said, they cannot be taken back. They are 'out there' and now have to be dealt with, for good or bad. So what you say matters, and even more, how you say what you say. We used to tell our girls, "it was not what you said, it was how you said it".
So today what have you said in a way that helps or hurts, heals or wounds, builds up or destroys?

Today I was reminded so vividly of this principle. I said something, albeit posted it in a social network of typed word, it was still 'said'.
Imagine my utter suprise and, worse, my horror to have what I said so misunderstood that I suddenly became the object of someone's vapid and bitter vitriole.

Upon disovering the 'out there for everyone to see slander', I could have responded in many different ways. I could have blasted the respondent, as many would have done, for they completely took what I said and twisted it, I could ignore it, or I could lovingly confront.

Ah, and there is the rub. To confront, lovingly or otherwise, is not my nature. I would just as soon curl up in a corner and pretend it didn't happen. So to blast them for their response would be out of my comfort zone, but I confess it did cross my mind. But, that was the old me.
The born again Lord-loving me had to sit and process the cutting words and see if they had merit. Then I had to decide how to handle it.

After long thought and prayer, I went about it in such a way as I think would be pleasing to God and confronted the person, lovingly... and in private. In this venue, this meant a personal message. I tried to explain my earlier words and tried to help this individual, who I might add does not know me at all, to understand what I said, as well as what I meant.
Only time will tell if this was both productive and helpful.

For now, I am left with the thought that my Heavenly Father knows my heart, and that I would be distraught had I not tried to 'fix' the misunderstanding, for to me the verse, 'as much as is possible, be at peace with all men' is more than a suggestion, it is a precept to be carried out.

I had a family member who had the distinct gift/curse of cutting you off at the knees and leaving you bleeding before you knew you had been wounded. I have come to believe this was a distortion of the gift of words that God had given them. Had this individual used the 'words gift' properly, there is simply no telling what amazing things could have been accomplished for the kingdom of God through them.

So once again I ask you, what are you doing today with your words?
Use them sparingly, and wisely.

Grace, Grace, Gods Grace

GRACE......
Isn't it the mere mention of the word that drives the point home in our inner being that were it not for that one thing, we would be lost?

I have been musing on this today....for reasons I am not at liberty to share here. I have just been thinking about how much that grace affects our everyday lives.

As a young person, I was sure I had all the answers. I was probably even a bit annoying in making sure others knew I thought I had them. To those folks, consider this my big apology, for as the years have gone by, and I have lived a lot more life, I realize I knew ....well, nothing. Count it up to the wisdom that begins to happen as the hair goes gray, along with spending more and more time in the company of my Savior.

Everything I thought I knew, everything I thought I understood, everything I thought I was right about has been upturned.
In true form for scripture, God had it right (well of course He did)...
'When I was a child I thought and spoke as a child.'
It is the next part of that verse that is the encouragement to me now. There is the 'out' of getting to be grown up.

It is a bit of a shock when you hit that point, that 'aha' moment when you understand that grace covers the worst of yourself. You know your own heart and mind better than anyone, so you are the only one who can completely appreciate the mammoth gift of that grace. You alone know how wretched you are, and wonder of wonders, God's love covers it.

I will go a step further and add, there is a second 'aha' moment. This is the one I contemplate more today, the one where you finally get to the 'grown up' moment of realizing that God is doing that in other peoples lives as well. Not only is He doing that in their lives, but in yours He is equipping you to 'allow' them their mistakes, their setbacks, their own 'journey to holiness'.

Growing up means learning that I am full of faults that it is a miracle that God forgives.
Growing up means that I begin to understand just how much I don't know and how much God does.
Growing up means allowing other people to make mistakes, and thus allowing them room to be forgiven because that is what God does.

So today, as I check my own list of expectations for myself and for others, I pray that I can apply my 'aha' revelations in a way that frees us all to live with grace applied.

A few roses if you please

So, I have finally worked my way into the blogosphere, and I am none too sure that anything I have to say is of any merit, but it will give me a way to share what I am thinking and if of benefit to someone else, then all the better.

So travel with me, this is a whole new journey and there is no telling where this will take us!
:)