God is Enough!

"Now the children of Israel camped in Gilgal, and kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight on the plains of Jericho.  And they ate of the produce of the land on the day after the Passover, unleavened bread and parched grain, on the very same day. Then the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten the produce of the land; and the children of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate the food of the land of Canaan that year. "  Joshua 5:10-12

 As I reflect on my 28th year of life, I can only think about how wonderful God has been to me.  Has He spoiled me with everything I've wanted. Absolutely not. I'm glad that He didn't. He has always given me what I've needed and you know what, serving God has been enough for me. I don't need mansions, fine jewelry, fancy cars, and other material goods to fill me. I have Him. I don't need fame, and the world's acceptance.  I have Jesus Christ. He is enough.  Having this understanding makes me the richest woman in the world!  :)
     Having said this, during the Israelites' journey in the wilderness, God provided them with manna. Manna literally means "What is it?"  Manna was similar to coriander seed, white, and tasting like wafers made with honey. It is described as occurring in flakes or small round grains.   It was nothing fancy, but it was enough to keep the Israelies going. Manna signified that God took care of his people, providing for all of their needs.  Furthermore, God would provide the fresh manna from heaven on a daily basis. You may wonder why God only provided manna when He could have given them the finer foods.  He is God afterall, right?  I suppose that He wanted them them to save their appetite for their arrival in Canaan. Canaan was a land of blessing and abundance. It also contained an abundance of food. In my opinion, God wanted to create in the Israelites an anticipation for Canaan.  He knew that wilderness and manna experience would make their arrival in Canaan that much more sweeter. Yet, we find that the Israelites continued to murmur against God,

"...and the children of Israel also wept again and said, who shall give us flesh to eat? We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick: but now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes" (Numbers 11:4-6).

    Instead of seeing what God was doing for them, God's people chose to see what God wasn't doing for them.  Their attitude showed how ungrateful they were towards His daily provision. Indirectly, they were telling God that He was not enough for them. We read that God's anger was kindled against the Israelites.  God ended up giving them so much quail, that it came right out of their noses (Numbers 11:33).  Yet, eventually, in God's perfect timing, the Israelites arrived in Canaan.  The Bible says that with their arrival, the quail ceased and the people ate from the food of the land or the abundance of the land. 
     My "pearl" to you today is that God is more than enough.  He can satisfy your longing heart. He is our true manna. He feeds the hunger inside of us. His body, which was sacrificed on Calvary, made it so that we never have to go hungry again.  Just like God provided daily manna for the Israelites, God also provides for us on a daily basis.   He doesn't expect His people to live on past blessings, but He provides a fresh batch of grace each day. Each day, fresh from the oven are God's sweet and tender mercies and provision. He allows us to experience Him and all of His fulness.  Yet, don't we often find ourselves telling God we want more. Lord, if I could just have that new car, or get that great job, or find that great guy or girl, my life would be complete. Lord, if I could just take that trip or look like this, and lose this weight, I would be truly happy. The truth is, those things, even though not wrong in themselves, would never fill the hunger inside of us. Only the presence of God can fill us.  God wants us to long for Him more than anything else in this life, but so many times, we push Him away.  We don't necessarily do this with words, but we do this by exalting other things in our lives.  Eventually, God does rain on us physical blessings (ie. houses, cars, careers, family, marriage etc), but what is most important is still Him. You will always remember those times when you were dead broke, but He was there for you and lifted your head up. You will remember those days of being single, but you had Him and delighted in His presence. You will remember those time during your college years when you had little money and food, but God was enough for you. You will remember when you were homeless, but God gave you a roof over your head, even if it was a homeless shelter. Guess what? He was enough for you even then.  You may still be in your wilderness, but remember, God is enough. Eventually, you will reach Canaan (on this earth and in eternity) and the food of the land will be in abundance.  However, right here, right now, God is enough and you need nothing more.




 

Creation Worships God

"The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race. His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof. " Psalm 19:1-6

On this early Monday morning, I looked out my window.  The grey rain-filled clouds made there way into Redlands last night, ready to water this quiet little town.  In my heart, I see that Spring is starting to make her entrance.  This makes me so happy.  I noticed the winds start to pick up and begin to blow through my window. I could feel a cool breeze making its way through and run its fingers through my hair.  Before long, the palm tree outside of my window began to dance and sway, almost in a magical rhythm. Its branches moved in an upward, then downward motion, as if bowing gracefully. It entered my mind immediately, this tree is bowing to its creator, just like the rest of creation does.  How is it that creation can acknowledge its Creator, yet, as humans, we struggle with doing so?  I can't help but worship my creator every day.   Each day, He breathes His life into me and pours down blessings beyond measure.  Every aspect of creation, from the oceans, to plan life, to the animals, acknowledge that they get life from God.  Therefore they worship.  They worship, in the case of the palm tree, in bowing.  They worship by being obedient and doing what God has commanded them to do. Will you take a moment to bow to your creator?  Will you worship by doing what God has called you to do? How will you worship God today?  You many not always feel it, but in obedience, you worship Him because you know deep inside that He is all-powerful, yet loving towards you every day that you breathe. I'd like to invite you to ponder on the following Psalm.  In it, may you be encouraged to give honor to our wonderful God. 

"Bless the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty. Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain: Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters: who maketh the clouds his chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind: Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire: Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed for ever. Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a garment: the waters stood above the mountains. At thy rebuke they fled; at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away. They go up by the mountains; they go down by the valleys unto the place which thou hast founded for them. Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over; that they turn not again to cover the earth. He sendeth the springs into the valleys, which run among the hills. They give drink to every beast of the field: the wild asses quench their thirst. By them shall the fowls of the heaven have their habitation, which sing among the branches. He watereth the hills from his chambers: the earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works. He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth; And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man's heart. The trees of the LORD are full of sap; the cedars of Lebanon, which he hath planted; Where the birds make their nests: as for the stork, the fir trees are her house. The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats; and the rocks for the conies. He appointed the moon for seasons: the sun knoweth his going down. Thou makest darkness, and it is night: wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep forth. The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their meat from God. The sun ariseth, they gather themselves together, and lay them down in their dens. Man goeth forth unto his work and to his labour until the evening. O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches. So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts. There go the ships: there is that leviathan, whom thou hast made to play therein. These wait all upon thee; that thou mayest give them their meat in due season. That thou givest them they gather: thou openest thine hand, they are filled with good. Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust. Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth. The glory of the LORD shall endure for ever: the LORD shall rejoice in his works. He looketh on the earth, and it trembleth: he toucheth the hills, and they smoke.I will sing unto the LORD as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being."  Psalm 104:1-33

Suffering

Some people believe that serving God is a bed of roses or that life is somehow suddenly supposed to work out perfectly once you give your life to Christ.  I'm not here to preach doom and gloom, but understanding how God uses suffering to perfect us can help us to live empowered instead of hopeless and defeated.  Often, when Christians encounter pain and discomfort in their spiritual walk, they begin to doubt God's love for them and some even turn away from the faith.  Yet, we see through the scriptures that pain positions us for spiritual growth and God's blessing in our lives.

If you are experiencing pain and suffering in your life, I'm going to ask you to do something that sounds outrageous-  I want you to rejoice.  Rejoice?  April, are you crazy ?  Absolutely.  :)  Rejoice because you are in the will of God and God is doing something awesome in your life.  If he allows you to suffer, it's because he will bring you out of your pain into a place of  glory and power!   Do you desire to know God in a deep and intimate way?  Then you must suffer.  The Apostle Paul said,

"That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made comforable unto His death"  (Philippians 3:10).

Often, we like to quote the first part of this scripture, "That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection."  Sounds great, right?  We all want to know God and experience His power in our lives. Yet, there is a prerequisite for this kind of intimacy with God. We must be willing to experience pain, or as Paul says "...and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made comformable unto His death."  Like Jesus, you must experience the weight of bearing your cross and then allowing yourself to be "crucified" on it (Galatians 2:20).  Then, and only then, will you experience God's resurrection power.  In order for something to be resurrected, there must be a death first.  Whose death?  Your own death.   Suffering allows that death to take place.  It makes you rely soley on God while your flesh is put to death.  Don't resist suffering. I find it interesting that when the Lord spoke to the church of Laodicea, he called them out for their inability to suffer for the kingdom of God,

"I know thy works, that thou are neither cold nor hot...Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing: and knowest not that thou are wretched and miserable, and poor, and blind and naked. I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed..."  Revelation 3:15,17

God desired (and still desires) a church that has been tried by fire. God tries us by fire to test us and to purge us. It is not a lovely process, but what comes out of this experience is something beautiful.  It's not always easy to rejoice when you are experiencing marriage problems, when you are unemployed, when your kids stray from the faith, when you are experiencing financial hardship, and when God simply says no to what you want. Instead of relying on earthly pleasures and activities to block out suffering (ie. money, career, drinking, drugs, leisure, etc.), we must cling to God and allow Him to perfect us.  Paul once said, "...I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong" (II Corinthians 9-10).  Glory in what God is doing through you.  Rejoice that He counts you worthy to suffer. Know that when you are at your weakest moments, God's grace is sufficient (II Corinthians 12:9)  and He will provide such an abundance of grace to see you through.  God's power will be the strongest in those frail moments. My encouragement to you is not avoid suffering, but take pleasure in knowing that God is working on you.  God doesn't start a job and leave in the middle of it. Rest assured that what He started in you, he will finish (Philippians 1:6).

The Winter Woman

The Winter woman
Although she feels dead inside
Hopes in her God, although it seems the promises have died
Although it may seem that she is forsaken for a season
Deep inside her heart, she knows it is for a destined reason
Her faith, although challenged and tested upon her spiritual existence
Will not waiver in unbelief through her patience and persistence
She is determined to come forth shining as gold after being tried by the fire
Her faith will not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the glory of His power
Pressed down, knocked down,
They tell her that God has not heard her cry
But He has promised her, that certainly, His dreams for her will never die
He will bring to pass the desires and dreams he has shown her
When all is said and done, the waters will not overflow her
The Winter woman stands on God's Word, never wavering in unbelief
The Winter woman, when dawn breaks through, will no longer be

What to Wear....

I don't know about you, but I LOVE to shop. Blame it on me being a woman, but I can't have enough of my adventures to find the "perfect dress." I sometimes wonder what it would be like to have a large walk-in closet filled with elegant and sophisticated clothing. Oh, the joy it would be! What we wear says a lot about us. Although I am not the most stylish person, I do take pride in how I dress.  Coco Chanel once said, "When a woman dresses shabbily, people remember the dress.  When a woman dresses impeccably, people remember the woman."    I think that we can all agree that what we wear or put on each day is a very important aspect of daily life. Even the shoes we walk in matter. However, what is more important than what we physically wear is what we spiritually wear. The Apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians chapter 4, verse 24, "...Put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness."  Now, I want to back up a little here to the beginning of Ephesians. As I started reading the first couple of chapters, key verses began to stand out to me.  Let's take a look at a couple of them:

• Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings...according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love (Ephesians 1: 4).
• For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them (Ephesians 2:10)

What do these verses have in common?  They show us that God has predestined us to accomplish His purpose. Before we were even born, God chose us. Before God created the heavens and the earth, he had it in his infinite mind that we would be His through the sacrifice on Calvary.  Not only that, but He already made up in His mind that we would be holy and without blame before him in love. In essence, he formed us knowing our final outcome even when we were unclear of it ourselves.  Often times, we get stuck in the mentality (even though we have trouble admitting it) that our Christian service is about our works and about our own righteousness. Hey, I've even stumbled into that kind of thinking myself. The truth is, our Christian service is about what Christ already did for us on Calvary.  When we are converted to this new life in Christ, we simply get to "put on" the works that God has already prepared for us to walk in. They're not ours, but His.  On our own, it is impossible for us to be holy and righteous.  The good news is, God is not telling us to be righteous and holy on our own. Now, back to my opening scripture. God is saying to us "...Put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness."  In other words, we get to wear or "put on" His character for free; no charge to us believers. When we really grasp this, nothing is impossible.  We can live the Christian life we've always wanted and do the works God has called us to do because He is doing all the work.
    A couple of days ago, I sat at my desk in the morning before the start of school. I was thinking about a task that needed to be accomplished at my job, and to be honest, I was doubting whether or not I could do it. I opened my Bible and God directed me to Ephesians 2:10 where it says that we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God had before ordained or planned out so we could walk in them. I have read this scripture many times, but it hit me in such a different way this time. I heard God's still small voice speak to me in that moment saying April, I've called you and have a purpose for you.  I've already prepared the works I have for you including this small task ahead of you. This task as well as the other works I have for the rest of your life are already done. Your job is simply to walk in them.  That's the benefit of being my child.  Wow!  I can't tell you how quickly that burden lifted. I felt such peace. I also felt spoiled by the Lord in that moment.  When I feel inadequate, its ok because I'm trusting in Him and not myself to do the job.  When my own works fail me, I can simply walk in his. You might be saying Sister, this sounds great and all, but I've been a believer for 10 or 20 years and can't stop sinning in a certain area.  How come my habit hasn't gone away since I have believed.  Well, that's a good question. The answer is simple.  Christ has done the work, but our job is to walk in it.  We still have to take the step into His will. Just like a million dollar check means nothing if it is never cashed, the same goes for this principle. If we don't place our feet on the right path, we will never be at a place where God can work through us.  God will not force His pre-accomplished works on us. We must be at a place of total connection and dependency on Him,  "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit [good works]; for without Me you can do nothing" (John 15:4-5). John tells us that, separated from Christ, we can do nothing. We must place ourselves where we can hear that still small voice; at a place where the Word of God can guide us.   You want to accomplish what God has for you, then take the next step and draw close to God (ie, prayer, fasting, and the Word).  I leave you with these last words. Walk in Christ's works, put on God's will. Take hold of everything that God has already done through you.  On the cross, Christ said, It is finished! My brother and sister, you are already finished, a completed masterpiece by faith.  Simply take hold of His hand and never let go.