A sacrifice worth making

I love the Lord’s timely reminders.  Were your feelings hurt this week like mine?  Have you been in conflict with someone and you haven’t yet shaken it off?  Is there a moment of pain you continue to pray about? 

It’s time to forgive and move on. 

Here’s the deal.  The person who hurt you is a human, just like you.  They are affected by stressors, spiritual powers, and the same fluctuating & selfish traits of humanity as us.  Sometimes others go into protection mode, too.  And sometimes others don’t always act like “perfect Christians” either. 

With that in mind, we need to pray for that other person or people.  I said it.  And you can do it.  Also, I do not mean praying for their demise.  I mean pray for them as you would pray for yourself.  Pray for them as though they are one of God’s children, because they are. 

If you’re thinking I’m crazy, I will remind you that this is scriptural.  Jesus told us to pray for those who mistreat us and to love our enemies.  I don’t typically think of anyone as my enemy, but if there is something keeping us from wanting to pray for someone, then perhaps that qualifies. 

Praying for someone who has hurt us is a beautiful sacrifice of love.  It also allows us to see them the way God does, and to remember that they need a bit of grace, as well.  Suddenly, forgiveness becomes possible, and we are free from that burden we’ve been carrying around.  We will see, once again, how the truth in God’s Word will set us free! 

Note:  Forgiveness is about us being obedient to the Word.  Some relationships can then be reconciled, in a beautiful, and sometimes miraculous way.  Others, especially if it’s a dangerous situation, may not need to be, and that’s ok. 

Let God set you free today!  Forgive,

jamie

Advertisement

Why so afraid?

Heb. 13:6 “The Lord is my Helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”

I read & prayed over this verse 3 days ago, as well as another, which ends with, “Whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.”

And then yesterday I was in a setting where I have very little control, and where just 8 days prior come out physically altered and injured.

I’d love to say that I quoted those verses to myself and held strong, but the truth is that I crumbled and cried like a baby. I literally sobbed…in front of people. Ugh.

Then my pain was called into question. My past was brought up. Other conditions in my life were brought up, and even the world’s stress was mentioned. And I felt that my pain had been invalidated.

In a situation where I already had very little control, I suddenly felt smaller and discredited. I left feeling broken, victimized, and hurt. And my posture, for the rest of the day, showed it.

I made a choice. A natural human choice, but a poor one. 2 days prior I’d read that God is my Helper. 3 days prior I taught about it! I had just been reminded not to fear man, and to trust in the Lord; and here I was, focusing on feeling victimized.

Isn’t that so typical of us? I’m sure I’m not alone.

This morning, I woke up remembering that the Lord is my Helper, and I wanted to remind you, as well. Whatever it is you’re going through, look to Him.

Whatever pain you are in…and don’t let others tell you it isn’t real…look to Him for your comfort. For He says, “I am the Lord, the One who encourages you. Why are you afraid of mere humans? They dry up and die like grass.” Is. 51:12. He can be trusted.

Encouraged,

jamie

God always wins!

Some interesting reading this morning in Psalms.

First I read Ps. 76, which talks about how God always wins.  He is God.  Famous.  Honored in Israel.  On Mt. Zion He destroyed fiery arrows, shields, swords, and all the other weapons.

He is more glorious than the eternal mountains.  When He roars, enemy chariots & horses drop dead in their tracks.  He is fearsome and no one can oppose Him when He is angry.  He is also ready to rescue everyone in need.  Even the most angry people will praise Him when He is furious, and He destroys the courage of rulers & kings, making cowards of them.

Then I read Ps. 74, which talked about a nation in trouble.  People felt like God had rejected them.  It was asking for God to remember them.  It said, please don’t forget about Mt. Zion.  (the same Mt. Zion where He had destroyed those things above)

It talks about how God’s enemies roared like lions in the holy temple and placed their own banners there.  Ah, but I remember God’s roar and the damage it can do…

The enemies used axes & hatchets to smash the carvings in God’s temple, and they burned down the temple & badly disgraced it.  They burned every one of God’s meeting places all over the country.  There were no more meeting places & no more prophets.  The question was where was God?  How long would He wait?

But His Word says, that even the most angry people will praise Him, and He destroys the courage of rulers, making cowards of them.

God hasn’t left.  He does not change.  The Lord is truthful, and he can be trusted.

“The Lord isn’t slow about keeping His promises, as some people think He is.  In fact, God is patient, because He wants everyone to turn from sin and no one to be lost.”  (2 Peter 3:9)  He is still being patient for those who would still turn to Him.

“God did not send His Son into the world to condemn its people.  He sent Him to save them!”  (John 3:17)

If we feel ourselves getting overwhelmed by what we see around us, we can be reminded to look to the One who is still in control and remind ourselves that there is a bigger reason for life here on Earth.  Things aren’t always as they seem.

God’s desire is that all would be saved and turn to Him.  Is that our desire, as well?  God loves the world so much that He sent His only Son to save them.  Do we love the world enough to tell them and show them and pray for them?  Or have we written the world off?  God said Jesus will return and we will be with Him in eternity.  Don’t lost heart, dear ones.

God hasn’t said it’s over yet.  Neither should we.  God always wins!

jamie

Hope, like an anchor

Heb. 6:19-20:  The hope [of God’s promises] is like a firm and steady anchor for our souls.  In fact, hope reaches behind the curtain and into the most holy place.  Jesus has gone there ahead of us, and He is our high priest forever…”

I had some moments last week being mentally tormented.  I was very ill, physically, and in hindsight, I can see that I’d become severely dehydrated and should have probably taken a little ambulance ride to get some fluids.  At the time; however, all I knew was that my mind was being attacked along with my body.

I was being bombarded with terrible, tormenting thoughts.  My mind was foggy and confused, so when I would try to find a true thought to come against the tormenting thoughts, it was extremely difficult.

Y’all, this is why it is so important to pray for people when they’re sick.  (That’s just your bonus nugget)

I couldn’t fight against every single thought, setting each and everyone right, like on a normal, healthy day, but I could always find a sliver of hope in the midst.  There was an anchor, ever in the midst of the storm in my mind, that remained.  And though I wasn’t able to muster a prayer during those moments, my hope reached behind the curtain, to the most holy place, where Jesus has gone ahead of me.

Praise God we have a Savior who has gone ahead of us and who knows what we need!  Praise God that our hope reaches behind the curtain!  Praise God that our hope in God’s promises can be like a firm and steady anchor for our souls in the hardest of moments!  Praise God for those who pray for us when we cannot.

“What must I give You, Lord, for being so good to me?  I will pour out an offering of wine to You, and i will pray in Your name because You have saved me.  I will keep my promise to You when Your people meet.  You are deeply concerned when one of Your loyal people faces death.  I worship You, Lord, just as my mother did, and You have rescued me, and You have rescued me from the chains of death.  I will offer You a sacrifice to show how grateful I am, and I will pray.  I will keep my promise to You when Your people gather at Your temple.  Shout praises to the Lord!”  Ps. 116:12-19

Anchored in Him,

jamie

Held in trust

Ps. 11:3:  “What can an honest person do when everything crumbles?”

We were definitely overcharged, but the lady at the front desk insisted that we weren’t.  We’d calmly and kindly conceded, paying the full amount she’d requested, but we drove away with the feeling that we’d just been robbed.

For 2 months in a row, we couldn’t get the office to change the amount due, even though our circumstances had changed.  Emails were sent back and forth, phone calls were made, and we finally made an in-person visit.  They were all very kind and helpful, but the amount never made its way back to our checking account.

And then, my husband needed surgery.  We are a 1-income family.  Medical tests were being done and the bills were already coming in.  We planned as far in advance for living on short-term disability pay as we could, and all we could do was trust God with the rest.  His Word has promised that He will supply all of our needs.  His Word also gives a promise when it comes to tithing.  And so we hunkered down, in faith, and decided not to worry about the math, but to continue to put our faith in Him.

Here is where God showed out!  Right when we needed the money the most, we got the refund from months before from when we knew we’d been overcharged.  Suddenly, the other money made its way into our bank account.  And out of the blue, a couple of other refunds that we weren’t even aware of or anticipating found their way into our bank account, as well.

God knew when we would need that money the most, and He had been holding that money in trust for us that whole time!  Its just beautiful and amazing to me how He works!

I am so grateful that we did not “show out” or act rude and ugly to the other people involved when we knew we’d been overcharged those 2 times.  It was God working in both of those situations, making plans for our future.

Here are a couple of takeaways:

1. God is faithful to His Word:  He still supplies the needs of His people.
2. Behaving well, even when things seem unfair or uncertain, is never the wrong thing to do.

Cared for,

jamie

Failing?

I put the location into my GPS and hit start.  “Take the 3rd exit,” she said.  Huh?  I don’t think that’s right.  I didn’t know exactly where I was going, but I knew the general direction.  Now I was headed the wrong way and I was stuck in traffic.

As soon as I was able I turned around, and I re-keyed the location.  It was coming up wrong.  No wonder.  As I tried again I realized that it was no use…the location I needed wouldn’t come up.  34 minutes from my arrival time now, and I was at a standstill.  Ugh!  I had to make a phonecall and get some help.

I finally made it to my son’s longest, most intimidating karate test of his entire life.  (thus far) We made it right on time, and I was then horrified to realize that I had forgotten to bring him a drink.  Seriously!?  He was going to be in there sweating and working for over 2 hours, and I didn’t even bring him a drink!?

Within the next minute, I realized that I had additionally left his sparring gear at home when he also should have brought that.  NO!!

Epic mom fail!

Yes, I made sure he had his GI on, and that it was ironed, and I fed him and got him there…not to mention the fact that we stretched together earlier and I took care of him most of the day, but was I thinking about those things?  Nope.  Just the fails.

It’s so easy for us to see the fails, defeats, and disasters in our lives.  Often those look so much larger than the wins, the rights, and the achievements… especially when they are in the everyday things.  It’s in the wins and the rights; however, that our heart of gratitude and our spirit of thankfulness comes.

It’s in those things that we find God’s hand on our lives, working faithfully, amidst the fails that look so large.  He never left us, He never stopped looking out for us, He never quit working His plan.  He has been there, blessing all along.  He has been there, giving us wins, helping us achieve all the way…did we notice?

I had many mom achievements today.  My list of mom achievements today would way outnumber those couple of things I didn’t get done this evening.

The things that we fail at in our lives, in light of all the things where we win, are nothing in comparison to all those wins.  We are abundantly blessed.  We just need to take notice, and perhaps even begin to literally take note, if that’s what it takes.

God still goes before us, behind us, beside us, and He dwells within us.  He will not forsake us.  How do I know?  Not only did He promise it, but He has proven it to me over and over again.

Winning,

jamie

He chose you

“…just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world…”

Yes.  There is more to that Scripture in Eph. 1:4, but this morning, I wanted to point out to you and to me that God chose us before the foundation of the world.  If you’ve been wondering if you were chosen, if there has been any doubt in your mind if the gospel message is for you, if you weren’t sure if you were lovable enough for Him, then let this verse reassure you this morning…He chose YOU before the foundation of the world.  And then He sent His Son, Jesus, to die on the cross to ensure that Your salvation would be in place if you chose to believe.

Thursday night I went to visit an elderly man that I have befriended over the last few years.  He is a precious man that has spoken encouragement and life into me over the last couple of years, and when I went into his house he said that his heart was racing with me being there because he was so excited to see me.  When I left there that night I was in tears.

This man chose me.  He chose to be my friend, to speak encouragement into my life, to want to be my friend; and when he saw me, his heart was literally racing with excitement.  That says so much to me.  I went there to see him because I love him, but I left there feeling so overwhelmed with love.

God chose us before the foundations of the world!  He speaks life and encouragement into us through His Word more than any person could ever do.  He sent His only Son to die so that we could be with Him for eternity.  That’s how much He wants to be with us.  Y’all!  He wants us!  We are chosen!  If you have ever doubted it…let those doubts be erased now.  He loves You!

His,

jamie

Abraham’s incentives

Heb. 11:8-10:  “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance.  And he went out, not knowing where he was going.  By faith he dwelt in the land of promise like a foreigner living in tents; and so did Issac and Jacob, who inherited the same promised.  For Abraham waited for a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God.”  

Abraham leaving his country, family, and his father’s house to go dwell in tents in a land he didn’t know…as a foreigner…does take great faith.  There is even more to his faith story, but for today…

When I went back to Genesis this morning to read the beginning, I saw the mention of the fact that Abraham’s wife Sarai was barren; she had no child.  (Gen. 11:30)  Then, in Gen. 12:1-3, the Lord tells Abraham to leave his country and go to a land He would show Him.  But God gave him an incentive.  Well, several incentives, actually.

Remember, his wife is barren.  The Lord said, “I will make you a great nation.”  Wow!  That’s a pretty great incentive to leave.  Ok.  “I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing.”  Goodness!  Really?  I mean, me?  “I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”  Boom!

So, not only was the Lord promising to bless Abraham, but He was going to bless all the families of the earth through Abraham.  I mean, come on!!!!  How can anyone resist that!?  And so, Abraham obeyed.  And so God did as He promised.  God blessed Abraham and his wife.  And God has blessed us all because through Abraham and his descendants came our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ!!

Drop the mic.

If we trust in anything in this life, let it be the Lord.  He does what He says He will do.

Last night we had a soup dinner at church.  I had this amazing new recipe for cornbread casserole that I had eaten the day before.  I also have a great crock pot.  I put all the ingredients in my crock pot and mixed it all up.  When it was time to leave for the dinner, I simply unplugged the crock pot and we headed out the door.  When my pastor’s wife took the lid off the crock pot and stuck a serving spoon inside the casserole was more like soup.

I’d trusted in my recipe and my crock pot, and didn’t even check the results before we left home.  Fail.

Abraham trusted in the Lord who promised to bless him and all the families of the earth through him, living in tents and waiting for a city with eternal foundations.  Win!

In God we can always trust.  He will never let us down.

Served,

jamie

Love your enemies, part 2

Pr. 15:18:  “A wrathful man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger allays contention.”

In yesterday’s blog, I asked this question: if someone who has hurt you needs prayer will you pray for them?

When you or someone you love has a serious prayer need in your life don’t you desire compassion and aren’t you seeking for people to pray for you?  Most of us are.

Now, say that the wrathful person you envisioned in this verse has a prayer need.  Are you going to take time to pray for them?  If someone who has previously injured you in some way now needs prayer, will you pray for them?

What was it that Jesus told us in Mt. 5:44-45?  Get ready for it…

But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons [and daughters] of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust.”

Jesus said we should love our enemies.  Not only that, but we should bless those who curse us and do good to those who hate us.  Also, we should pray for those who spitefully use us and persecute us.  Why?  So we may be sons and daughters of our Father in heaven.  He makes us all, loves us all, and according to John 3:16, died for us all.

I have a testimony not meant for a blog, but the Lord once asked me to pray for someone who had seriously injured me.  It seemed like an unreasonable request, considering the pain this person had caused me, and although I initially argued with God (in the pew at church), I eventually gave in.  Once I did, I was lifted of a burden in a way I never could have imagined.

The Lord freed ME of anger…freed ME of unforgiveness…freed ME of pain and bitterness.  I am much more equipped to forgive now than I was before, and I am so thankful for the freedom the Lord gave me when I trusted Him enough to do as He commanded. 

We cannot control what the people around us do.  All we can control is what we choose to do.  We can choose to trust the Lord enough to follow His Word and do as He commanded.

Just like He showed me…there are great rewards in store when we do!

Give it a shot!

jamie

Love your Enemies, part 3

Love your Enemies, part 4

 

 

How are they so calm right now?

    Photo taken straight through my kitchen window. Notice the water drops…they’re on the outside.  I was safe and dry on the inside.

I was taking a few moments to just enjoy myself and gaze out at the rain through the kitchen window this morning.  Then I looked over and had to laugh when I noticed that our outside cat, who was now inside, was doing the same through the sliding door.

Tropical storm Michael is upon us right now, so we have a nice, steady rain here right now, some wind gusts; and it’s still a bit dark out.  Inside our home this morning; however, it has been so nice and peaceful.  It’s been very calm and quiet this morning, and I’ve felt an unusual type of peace.  It’s been quite lovely.

It reminded me of something that God can do in our lives.  Sometimes there are storms in our lives.  Winds can blow, rain can pelt down, floods can rise.  Things in our lives can be out of control all around us.  Oh, but God…He can keep everything calm and peaceful within us.

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”  Ph. 4:6-7 (NLT)   

God will give us peace that exceeds anything we can understand, and it will guard our hearts and minds as we live in Christ Jesus.  That’s the peace I’m talking about.  The peace that keeps us calm on the inside while the storm rages around us on the outside.

It won’t make sense.  People will wonder how we can be so calm.  We may not even believe it ourselves at first, but then we will understand that God has just been faithful once again, like He has been before!  He cannot lie, so if He says He will give us this kind of peace, then we can take Him at His word.  We just have to trust Him enough to try it.

So, the first step is do not worry, but pray.  Tell Him what we need.  Thank Him for all He has done.  And then…then comes that peace…the peace within the storm!  I want that peace in the storms of my life, don’t you?  Let’s give it a shot!

Praying for your peace and mine,

jamie