Jesus Calling by Sarah Young

Today at work, a guest teacher approached me with a hug and a prayer.  This precious woman is always offering me encouraging words and when I sprained my ankle earlier this month, she prayed the prayer of faith right there in the principal's office.  I admire her boldness. Today she had a treat for me. She invited me to her house because she had a book that she wanted to give me. The book is called Jesus Calling by Sarah Young. It is a 365-day devotional with a Bible reading plan and some beautiful prayers. I must say that I have never really been into these kind of books because I'm not really into short little one-page devotionals- I like long stories.  Yet, I found myself really into this little book. The devotion for today really spoke to me as it reminded me to keep trusting in God for direction in my life.  Further, the story of the author brought such encouragement to me because her calling is similar to mine.  This book is going to be my new little friend. I encourage you to purchase it.  Here is a little excerpt from the book. Enjoy! 

Softy I Announce My Presence

Shimmering hues of radiance tap gently at your consciousness, seeking entrance. Though I have all Power in heaven and on earth, I am infinitely tender with you. The weaker you are, the more gently I approach you. Let your weakness be a door to My Presence.Whenever you feel inadequate, remember that I am your ever-present Help. Hope in Me, and you will be protected from depression and self-pity. Hope is like a golden cord connecting you to heaven. The more you cling to this cord, the more I bear the weight of your burdens; thus, you are lightened. Heaviness is not of My kingdom. Cling to hope, and My rays of Light will reach you through the darkness.

Psalm 46:1; Romans 12:12; Roman s 15:13

Water Springs in the Desert

"Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.  As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs; the autums rains also cover it with pools.  They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion" (Psalm 84:5-6)

I'll be honest that the last couples of months of been a bit rough. It seems like one problem after another came my way and my family's way.  To be quite honest, in the midst of it all, I've been facing a bit of a dry spell spiritually.  Like I've said in previous posts, we go through different seasons that are meant to mold us and make us stronger. This is such a season. I was encouraged as I read the beautiful portion of scripture above this morning. My curiousity got the best of me and I did a little research on my lunch hour.  The Valley of Baca is known as the Valley of Lamentations or the Valley of Weeping. Its a desert area that was known for very little rainfall- or a dry valley. Sound familiar?   Spiritually, we all go through that dry valley in our lives. If you haven't yet, you eventually will. Yet there is no reason to fear or despair.  It is in this place of our lives where there are some of the greatest blessings. The scripture above shows that in the midst of a that dry place, God makes it a place of springs and allows the autumn rains to fall or cover it with pools of water. You see, as we walk through this place in our lives, sometimes our tears are all that we have.  I truly believe that God uses these tears to water the seeds of promise in our lives. It is these tears that cover this desert place or valley, empowering us with more of God's strength, as the scripture says, "they go from strength to strength."  Our tears are forming the water springs and rains that will be used to bless our lives.  Remember, God will always provide a spring of water in your desert. I recall the story of Hagar and Ishmael (Genesis 21:14-20).  Sarah had angrily sent Hagar away with her son into the Wilderness of Beersheba.  Hagar and her son eventually ran out of water.  The Bible says that Hagar stood afar off from her son and was prepared to watch him die from thirst. We read that God sent an Angel who told her that God had heard her son's cry. Then the Angel opened Hagar's eyes and she saw a well of water. She was able to give her son to drink which saved his life. God did it so that the promise over his life could be fulfilled.  Isn't it awesome that God provided a well in Hagar's desert? He cared what happened to her and her son even if no one else did.
God will always provide a spring or a well for us in the spiritual deserts of our lives. At the end of this desert, we end up knowing God in such a greater, powerful way. As I write this, I feel such an assurance that God is about to allow the rains of promise fall soon. He sees us and has not forgotten us.  I feel that God is about to do the same for you too. Let us wait in expectation as we watch God transform a spiritual desert into a place where we are saturated with Him and all of Him.  :) 

April

Sweetness to a Child's Lips

“Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6

The above scripture has always been used as an encouragement for parents when it comes to their children. My own mother has always encouraged herself with this verse as she raised us four children on her own. I heard something this morning on the radio that really touched me and that I'd like to share regarding this verse. The word "train" in the Hebrew is hanak. It comes from the root meaning, "to put something into the mouth" or to "affect the taste." It refers to the process of a parent putting syrup or honey into the mouth of a newborn child to encourage sucking. In the context of the above scripture, we see that influencing a child takes more than preaching at them or even just taking them to church every Sunday. As parents, it's living in such a way that your children taste the sweetness of God through you--through your lifestyle, that it creates an urge or desire in them to serve God. In teaching, we call this modeling. We know that you can't just tell people how to do something, but you must show them. You can't just tell your kids to serve God, but through your righteous living, you can create a desire in them to want to taste the Lord for themselves. Although I am not a parent myself, I have seen this first-hand in my life through my own mother and my grandmother. Something precious that I will always keep with me about my own mom is those many nights when we were younger and how she would pace our home praying over every single one of us. She was a single-mom and she always tells me that when my dad walked out on us, the Lord walked in. She depended on Him daily to meet our family's needs. Was she perfect? Absolutely not (oh wait, she's reading this, so she was absolutely perfect lol). Yet, she allowed me to see through her own life how blessed and favored by God someone could be if they put their complete trust in Him. The taste is still in my mouth and its sweetness continues to draw me closer to a beautiful and wonderful Savior.

Letting Others See Jesus in Me

"But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us."  II Corinthians 4:7

I can't help but chuckle at a story my mom was telling me this morning.  We were discussing the church she used to congregate at during her teen years. She is from a small town called Oceano.  She remembers that the Pastor of the small church at the time used to visit every single one of his congregants each day for a couple of minutes to see how they were doing.  One of families of the church was full of young boys and the story goes that whenever Pastor Pete, as he was known, would come around to this house and the boys would see him from the window, one of them would yell to his mother, "Mom, JESUS is coming!  JESUS is coming!" I can't help but chuckle at the sweetness of this little boy.  In his mind, he associated the Pastor with Jesus.  I began to think about this a little more. For us Christians, what would happen if people saw Jesus  instead of seeing us? Instead of seeing bickering, hate, anger, hypocrisy, lies, and a lot of other things most people associate with modern day Christians, what if they instead saw only in us the life of a humble man that loved them enough to die for their sins?  My prayer is that when I walk down the street, walk into a room, walk into church, people will see Jesus and not me.   Like I always say, I may not be there yet, but I'm a work in progress and God's not done with me yet. Blessings.

The song below says it all for me. Enjoy!

Surviving Outside of the Nest

As a little girl, I remember so often wishing that I was a grown-up.  I wanted to control my own life, have my own money, my own car and cute little apartment or cottage, and be able to make adult decisions. Well, I grew up. I have all those things now, but sometimes, it's easy to feel alone and like the world is on my shoulders. I've traded in care-free days laying in my mama's arms and not having any worries for juggling a career, monthly bills, having to maintain relationships, facing the wonderful world of "people issues," and the responsibility of taking care of me.  I'll admit that sometimes I feel a little overwhelmed. Sometimes I wish I could be a little girl again and not have any responsibilities, but unfortunately, we can't turn back time.  I just keep pushing forward, knowing that God is with me and He is my ultimate provider and the one that truly takes care of me.   As I thought about this yesterday, I asked God, did you ever feel this way during your time here on earth? My mind was immediately taken to a portion of scripture that I have read very often, "And Jesus said...“Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”  When I read this, I get the sense that Jesus Christ sought rest for His soul in the midst of a hectic world. As a man, he got tired. Wouldn't you if you were constantly serving people, casting out devils, and doing signs, wonders and miracles?  He didn't have the luxury of relying on his parents anymore. He simply had to rely on God.  Often times, we too look for a place of rest in this crazy world, but the only place we will find it is in Jesus Christ. Looking elsewhere will leave us empty. Friends will come and go and family relationships will evolve with seasons, but the one true constant is Him. Don't get me wrong, we will always have people in our lives that we can turn to (ie. parents, siblings, friends), but they are not responsible for us. There comes a point where we must take responsiblity for ourselves. Even if you're married and have children, you will still feel that sense of responsiblity, and at times, weight on your shoulders. My sister who is married with two children under the age of five, is finishing up her masters degree,and works as a full-time teacher librarian says that sometimes she gets overwhelmed with all her responsiblities. She and I giggle as we remember our high-school years when our greatest worry was bringing home a bad grade. If you are single and on your own, you might feel that longing for a sense of home.  Here is my encouragement for you.  God is there there to give you that sense of "home" when you feel homesick.  He is there to give you that sense of family if you don't have one.  He is also there to give you that sense of wholeness when you feel lonely.  Jesus may have had no place to lay his head, but the good news for us is that because of His sacrifice, we have a place to lay our heads down.  We have a place of rest in Him.  Its simply up to us to find it.  May you and I always find it.  :)