Walking with God

Marching orders……

I would like to wish all veterans past, present, and future a blessed Veteran’s Day, we love you and we appreciate your sacrifices to preserve our freedom and protect us all…..We thank you, our prayers are with you!

Really, we are all fighting in a war of some kind or other. No one has to tell you that, we all feel it. The Bible compares the Christian life to a war, and a race. Nobody goes to fight a battle without a battle plan, or a directive, some marching orders. Jesus said right before He went to the cross in His agonizing prayer in the garden, “I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.” He knew that the war was almost won….

He gave us our marching orders too. How many times I have struggled and asked God for that one definitive thing in my life that He wants me to do, and yet all I have to do is open the Bible and it is laid out plain and simple. “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” James 1:27

And then there is this……

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ Matthew 25:34-36

Sometimes I remind myself of my little cat. If he sees a bird outside or hears a strange noise, he won’t go directly to the source right away. He will walk all around the perimeter of the room until he gets right underneath it then he slowly raises up and sets his sights on it. He really thinks he is sneaking up on it, and it’s kind of comical to watch. But really it’s quite smart. This approach works when you are entering into battle, but not when you are skirting what God is telling you to do.

I go round and round, trying to figure out a less painless way to do what God tells me plainly to do in Scripture…..Asking God for His will for my life when He has already given me my marching orders! I look for a way involving less sacrifice or even no sacrifice, going for that other angle instead of the direct route of going head first into the battle.

Jesus last words before He ascended into Heaven gives us no doubt what we are to do:
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Matthew 28:19

 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ Matthew 25:34-36

Making a dent in eternity

When the New Testament speaks of God’s kingdom it never, ever, refers to heaven pure and simple. It always refers to God’s kingdom coming on earth as in heaven, as Jesus himself taught us to pray. We have slipped into the easygoing language of ‘the kingdom of heaven’ in the sense of God’s kingdom being ‘heaven’, but the early church never spoke like that. The point about heaven is that heaven is the control room for earth. Heaven is the CEO’s office from which earth is run – or it’s supposed to be, which is why we’re told to pray for that to become a reality. And the point of the Ascension, paradoxically in terms of the ways in which generations of western Christians have seen it, is that this is the moment when that prayer is gloriously answered. N.T. Wright

I had a thought yesterday that has imbedded itself and I can’t let it go. It is that our prayers make a difference for eternity. When we pray we make a connection between Heaven and Earth. Our words are not just going into the air, they are going to the very throne of God. I think we will be surprised to find that when we get to Heaven, every prayer we ever prayed has preceeded us there. Every prayer gathering we ever attended, every desperate cry in the middle of the night, every anthem of praise lifted up in the early hours of the morning, every single one is counted, heard, considered and cherished by the God who never slumbers nor sleeps. The Bible says the prayer of a righteous man availeth much, not just a little!

I had noticed a shift in my prayer life over the past week or so. Some feelings crept in unannounced, and before I knew what was happening, they had crowded out my prayers! I have been hard on myself….. tallying up the things I have not done for Him, and disregarding everything else. What I was essentially saying was, “God I know I am not doing this, this, and this for you, so I don’t think I am worthy enough for You to hear my prayers. Of course I am unworthy, but I rest in the One who is!

Forgive me God, for withholding my prayers, for though I was praying with my lips, I was condemning myself with my own feelings of unworthiness in my heart….. I don’t have to measure up to my own or anyone else’s standards in order for You to hear me when I pray, I can rest in your Son alone and his total and complete work of restoration on the cross! Thank you, Lord for getting me on the right track again and for reminding me that when I pray, I really am making a dent in Heaven.

Thy kingdom come, thy willl be done, on earth as it is in Heaven…..

Photo of C.S. Lewis prayer closet taken from the movie, “Shadowlands”

He’s listening……

When I am tempted to complain about God’s lack of presence, I remind myself that God has much more reason to complain about my lack of presence. I reserve a few minutes a day for God, but how many times do I drown out or ignore the quiet voice that speaks to my conscience and my life? “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock,” have become familiar words from Revelation, often stretched into an evangelistic message. But Jesus addressed those words to a church full of believers. How many times have I failed to hear the soft knock on the door and thus missed God’s invitation. Philip Yancey, “Prayer”

For as long as I can I remember prayer has been a part of my life. Kneeling by my bed as early as 7 or 8 years old I don’t recall what I prayed for, but I do remember having the assurance that God heard me. This is one area where I have not wavered in my faith. I consider it a tremendous gift from God and it humbles me greatly because I know it isn’t anything I did on my own, but only possible through the power of His grace and mercy.

There are other areas, however, I continue to struggle with greatly such as fear. Right alongside the faith that He hears, is the fear that has nipped at my heels constantly throughout my life. We all have different gifts and different weaknesses. Some struggle with severe doubt that God hears their prayers and some like me struggle with the fear of failure, of not measuring up. Whatever our particular weakness is, we know that the root cause is lack of faith. How do we get that faith? One way that helps me by hearing the word of God.

Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. Romans 10:17

There are many things we can hear that stir our fears up but a study diet of the Word causes us to rest in Him who has all things under control, even when it seems that chaos reigns all around us. In a way, I am grateful for my fears because they have made me cling to God more than someone with loads of self-confidence. If you have doubts today, I would encourage you to keep on praying, keep on believing. Know that He hears you in spite of our weaknesses. Even the Apostle Paul was not exempt:  

Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 2 Corinthians 12:7-9

We can also be comforted knowing Jesus is praying for us too! “My prayer is not for them alone, I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message.” John 17:20

Here is a question, is hope that He hears our prayers enough even when our faith is weak?

I think of all the ways prayer has changed me over the years, growing my patience, bringing me closer to the Lord and to other people, causing my faith to increase, and helping others not lose heart, for these reasons and others I continue my count of blessings today……a Mom who taught me the importance of prayer, Sunday school teachers and others who planted seeds in my early life and sacrificed their time for me, friends who were role-models of prayer, and a Dad who became a man of prayer through my Mom’s prayers, a very best friend who shares my faith as we share our doubts and fears together in prayer……And God who is always listening….#527-537

holy experience

Everything is a bright miracle


The footprints of God are everywhere about us. And while we can’t see Him, we can see His luminous trail like a bird that sings while hidden in a tree. As Middleton said, “The bird sings darkling.” We can’t see the bird, but we can hear her sing. God sings among His branches and sings in His universe. You and I cannot gaze upon Him, for no man can see God and  live. But we can hear Him sing His song of redemption. And we can feel the pressure of His breath upon us as we move through the world. We’ll never see things rightly till we see them as the garments of God. A.W. Tozer

Praise be to his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen and Amen. Psalm 72:19

Photo credits: Google images

What does it mean to follow Jesus?

“In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:33
Consider the cost when Christians ignore Jesus’ commands to sell their possessions and give to the poor and instead choose to spend their resources on better comforts, larger homes, nicer cars, and more stuff. Consider the cost when these Christians gather in churches and choose to spend millions of dollars on nice buildings to drive up to, cushioned chairs to sit in, and endless programs to enjoy for themselves. Consider the cost for the starving multitudes who sit outside the gates of contemporary Christian affluence.
David Platt, “Radical” Taking back your faith from the American Dream
I started reading this book last night, and all other books immediately went on hold. In the first Chapter we get an eye-opening glimpse into the underground church in Asia, where believers are indeed losing all for the sake of following Christ. In this book, David Platt raises a challenge to the American church today. He asks: “Do you and I believe Him enough to obey him and to follow him wherever he leads, even when the crowds in our culture–and maybe in our churches–turn the other way?”
This book has already driven me back, with a prayerful heart, to the words of Jesus, and what it really means to “pick up my cross” and follow Him. I have a feeling this will be an interesting journey and maybe a troubling one as well…..

Coffee with God

“But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” Matthew 6:6

I usually go out to pray with a mug of coffee in hand. I don’t think God minds, in fact I think He likes it. It is our coffee time together. I like that we can do that. I like the fact that in spite of my imperfect Christian walk, my faltering steps, He loves me and wants to hear from me. I don’t think this takes away from how Holy God is. I am aware that He resides in unapproachable light, and yet here is the miraculous part, He also resides in me. Wants to reside in all of us. Maybe it seems presumptuous to think we can be that familiar with a Holy God, but it’s not so surprising…..Gideon asked for a sign from God, not once but three times, Jacob refused to go unless he received a blessing. Jesus restored Peter even after he denied Him three times…..that’s how much He loves us. That’s how much He wants a relationship with us.

Maybe it seems irreverent that I can dare to pray while enjoying my first cup of the day, but this is part of the wild ridiculous joy of the Christian life…..that because of Jesus, we have a restored relationship with a Holy God! Father to daughter. I talk to Him about the “stuff” in my life. Anything and everything that is on my mind, even though He knows it all anyway. I think that He loves to hear it from my own lips. I think it makes Him smile.

Really that is what all children want from their parents. For them to be interested in the little things that interest them….”O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD.

God is interested……..that is how it all began! Once He walked with Adam and Eve in the cool of the evening, and now He desires to walk with us…..

Photos from Google images

The Miracle after the Silence……

In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Luke 1:26-28

Four hundred years God has been silent……no new prophets echoing through the Temple Courts…..no help for Israel, only continual oppression from powerful nations around them. It must have seemed like the silence was mocking all their hopes for the future. How many years they had prayed, and waited for God to answer. A sign, any little flicker of hope, anything to grasp on to. And still, they heard nothing. But they read the words, they clung to belief. They held out. They held on.  A whisper of hope was all they had, and yet it was enough.

Then one day things started to happen…….Zechariah going into the temple one way, and coming out unable to speak, stunned at what he heard, saw. “Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth,” Luke 1:11-14

He came out of the temple not able to speak, since he doubted what the Angel had said…….I wonder, in our modern reality-TV laden, overstimulated society……if Gabriel appeared would anyone notice? Would we even be able to hear him?
When you consider all these miraculous events………A virgin bearing God’s Son, a baby born filled with the Holy Spirit at birth (John), Zechariah struck dumb and they able to speak on the day of John’s birth…..is it any less of a miracle that we believe all these things and others don’t? That is what I pondered and it greatly humbled me this morning.
Mary said yes……and it cost her, Elizabeth and Zechariah said yes and it cost them, Jesus said yes and it cost Him. John the Baptist said yes, and it cost him.Yet they were also greatly rewarded. What an unspeakable gift……to be entrusted with this most precious gift, this knowledge, this truth. God’s own Spirit! The message to Mary from Gabriel is to us too, if we believe what Jesus said and have accepted Him into our lives. “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” 
He is with us!……..We have this hope……the wait is over. He has come! Whatever you are going through, I pray that today you find strength and hope in this gift that God has so freely given us. Rejoice with me today in this good news which shall be for all people! Pray, and be ready to give an answer for the hope that is in you…..so many need Him today.

Blogging as worship?

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:17

The most excellent method of going to God is that of doing our common business without any view of pleasing people but purely for the love of God. We ought not to grow tired of doing little things for the love of God, who regards not the greatness of the work, but the love with which it is performed. Brother Lawrence

Can blogging be considered worship? After doing a bit of online study about the Biblical definition of worship I came away with my head spinning. Greek and Hebrew forms of this and that, and then the meaning of our English word on top of it all, which seemed pretty flat when you compare it to the all-encompassing description I found with the Biblical Greek and Hebrew terms. Paragraphs and pages were devoted to it. My brain got tired!

I found a couple definitions online though that summed it up nicely…..

Worship is the response of grateful and humble people to the living God where submission, sacrificial service, praise, profession, testimony and gratitude are freely expressed in innumerable ways. This is a much richer concept than mere corporate singing and praise once each week for 20 minutes – an event that could occur without any actual worship going on at all. Peter Towns


“My favorite definition of WORSHIP is: “our individual and corporate response to God’s revelation of Himself within the context of a covenant relationship” David Stone

Worship is a living expression of gratitude that flows as a result of experiencing the love and mercy of God in our lives. Everything we do can become a form of worship when we are lifting it up to Him as a form of praise. When we do that, we acknowledge where it came from and He gets the glory!

Even  a monotonous task can become a form of worship because when we give that task over to Him in obedience, He honors and sanctifies it.

……and here is one of the best parts, anytime we talk about God, He hears it! That includes writing about Him too……. and blogging! 

“Then those who feared the Lord talked often one to another; and the Lord listened and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him of those who reverenced and worshipfully feared the Lord and who thought on His name. Malachi 3:16

Tomorrow I will have more thoughts on what blogging has done for me personally…….Stay tuned.

Multitude Monday

Photo courtest of Vermont Outdoor Guide Association

I see the man of sorrows and his long troubled road
I see the world on his shoulders and my easy load…..Sara Groves, “When the Saints”

Lately I have been speculating on what it really means to follow Christ. It’s a question I ask myself here in my sheltered comfortable corner of life. This is hard to put into words. I have been mulling it over for several weeks now. God has placed in my heart a question and a challenge. I have been aware of another road that is taking shape just beyond the edge of my thoughts. I see Jesus and others walking on it and I find myself wondering what my life would look like if I really stepped beyond the borders of my safe existence and said yes to giving Him everything.

For He is always asking something……I just don’t always listen. I was challenged yesterday when I saw a quote from Katie’s blog, in it she says,  “If we are really following Jesus, we will go to the hard places. Being a Christ follower mean being acquainted with sorrow. Because we must know sorrow to be able to fully appreciate joy. Joy costs pain, but the pain is worth it.”

I have the luxury of asking the question, the ones already doing the work of Christ know they are doing what He asks, they don’t need to ask the question……But asking the question is good. Just the asking takes courage sometimes. I don’t believe God wants us to browbeat ourselves and render us immobile with guilt. He wants us to look in our hearts and find out what He is asking of us right now, this very moment. There is always something He is asking us to do.  Being obedient to the simple things……. Knocking on a neighbor’s door, making a phone call to that person that God whispers to my spirit, driving across town to pray with a friend who is struggling.

Lord, help me right now to be obedient and open to Your Spirit. Help me never be afraid to ask the hard questions, for they can lead me closer to You. Keep my heart soft and my tongue filled with kindness and help me to see through Your eyes of compassion the needs right around me. Amen

“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” Matthew 9:36-38

I continue my endless counting today, with Ann and many others……….for there is much to be thankful for today and everyday…..Your tender mercies, friendly faces that smile back, cool breezes through the window, words that inspire, joy in simple accomplishments, yellow sliver moons, purple mountains at sunset, stars that shine in the desert, groceries in the pantry, courageous people being the Hands and Feet of God all over the world, Moms that send leaves in the mail. #496-#506

holy experience

What is faith?

Earth’s crammed with heaven, And every common bush afire with God; ~Elizabeth Barrett Browning

My definition of faith: “Faith is the absolute certainty that what we believe will come to pass.”

Websters definition of faith: b (1) : firm belief in something for which there is no proof (2) : complete trust

Ever tried to explain your faith to someone? It is like explaining the concept of eternity. Our finite minds just can’t get a grip on it. It is a good exercise though to think about why you believe a certain way and how you came to those beliefs.  Trying to articulate it is not easy. People say, “How can you be so sure?” Here are a few reasons why I have faith in God.

God has proven Himself over and over through circumstances and changes in me and other people…He is faithful, even when I am not.

Because the Bible says so and I believe the Bible to be God’s inspired word. “So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.” Romans 19:17 NLT 

Through answered prayer and miracles that can be explained no other way.

Because of everything I see in the world around me.  

The Holy Spirit within me verifies that it is true.

“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” John 16:13

Many people take issue with the fact that Christians seem so dogmatic in their beliefs, that we refuse to entertain the possibility that we may be wrong. The question then becomes, why would I want to devote my whole life to a belief system that I really wasn’t sure of? 

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” Hebrews 11:11

If we have evidence of things not seen, that would mean that there is evidence that we can see, hear and touch. Something that is tangible. What it takes is opening up our hearts as well as our eyes.  I came to the conclusion that the odds of all of this just happening on its own were a statistical  impossibility.

And I had praying parents……

To me, this question of faith is fascinating. I found myself going down a rabbit-trail that wouldn’t end. I couldn’t find a place to end this post, I kept thinking of more verses, more questions. The simplest way to put it is, I once was lost but now as found, was blind but now I see!

God writes the gospel not in the Bible alone, but on trees and flowers and clouds and stars. ~Martin Luther

Photo Mark Wilson, Globe Photo