Living Life in a Fish Bowl

In life we go through times where we think,

"Oh I wasn't good enough to do this."

"If only I had more money then I would be accepted by them."

"My name never gets called, I just have really bad luck."

Don't we all, at some point, 

find ourselves thinking that we are just the luck of the draw?

Even in our walk with Christ, 

we look around and see people stepping into their 

purpose and destiny.

Yet,

we are sitting.....

waiting.....

wondering,

"God, when will it be my turn?

When will you draw my name out of the 

big fish bowl in Heaven and let me step 

into what you have for me?"

Well....

for 1-

God does not have a big fish bowl in Heaven...

randomly drawing out who will be the next great

megaphone to declare the Good News all over the world.

That doesn't sound like a very loving God to me.

And 2-

Romans 8:29 says,

"For God knew His people in advance,

and He chose them to become like His Son."

verse 30 goes on to say,

"and having chosen them, he called them,

he called them to come to him.

And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself.

And having given them right standing,

he gave them his glory." (NLT)

There is so much we could unfold from those two verses alone.

But what I want to focus on right now is in verse 29

it says,

"For God knew His people in advance."

I have read some translations that say 

"He predestined."

He predestined us;

you and I,

to be like Jesus.

Before the foundation of the world,

Before He separated light from the darkness,

Before He created night and day,

Before He created the land and seas,

the grass and the trees,

Before He made the sun and the moon and the stars,

Before He created living creatures to inhabit the Earth,

Before He created Adam.....

He knew us and predestined us to be like Jesus!!!

Jeremiah 1:5 says,

"I knew you before I formed you in your 

mother's womb."

How amazing is that?!

I remember when I had each one of my children,

I would just sit and stare at them endlessly.

There was something about knowing they had been

in such a pure, living, breathing, 

unhindered and untainted by this world

relationship with God just days or months before

they were born.

They were with Him face to face!!

They heard Him laugh!!

They heard His declarations and promises 

for their lives before they were even revealed to me!!!

God didn't do this with just my children.

This happened to each and every one of you.

He knew you!!!

He predestined you to be like His Son!!!

How do we be like Jesus?!

-We totally and completely rely on God

and allow the Holy Spirit to guide us every single day.

The Bible says Jesus only did what He saw the Father do.

He would only say what He heard Him speak.

That is being completely reliant on our Father.

-We must love.

There is all kind of mess going on in the world 

right now.

Terrorist acts, political agendas and the election year,

things that we may not agree with and that are super

confusing being forced upon us.

But in the midst of all of the chaos and hate,

we are called to love!

Mark 12:30-31 says,

"And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart,

all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.

The second is equally important;

'Love your neighbor as yourself.''

We are not called to conform--not at all.

But we are called to love.

Know that God did not create you randomly

or without thought and care.

Know He didn't pick you randomly out of a bowl of others.

He was so intentional in creating you,

in placing the perfect purpose for your life within you.

He is a God of such detail when it comes to 

His sons and daughters. 

He knew you and predestined you to be like His Son

before this world was ever formed!!!

So step out of your fish bowl

and go show the world Jesus!!!

-Amen!!

Your Sins Are Forgiven You

Over the past few weeks, my Pastor has been doing a series called

"Exposing Myths Heard in the Church".

He is going through many myths that we have heard for years

and showing how they are not found in the Bible and 

what Jesus did when He came.

It has been SO amazing at the freedom and revelation 

that has been brought to light

and the years of such misleading, wrong doctrine being broken down.

I am not going to write about what he is teaching us, verbatim, 

but about one bit of revelation that has just sparked

something inside of my heart.

In Luke 5 we read about a story of a 

paralytic man who is healed by Jesus.

Read with me:

17 Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was present to heal them. 18 Then behold, men brought on a bed a man who was paralyzed, whom they sought to bring in and lay before Him. 19 And when they could not find how they might bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst before Jesus.

20 When He saw their faith, He said to him, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.”

21 And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

22 But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, He answered and said to them, “Why are you reasoning in your hearts? 23 Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise up and walk’? 24 But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the man who was paralyzed, “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”

25 Immediately he rose up before them, took up what he had been lying on, and departed to his own house, glorifying God. 26 And they were all amazed, and they glorified God and were filled with fear, saying, “We have seen strange things today!”

This paralytic man had friends with great faith!!

These men believed that if they could just get their friend to Jesus then

He would heal him.

They come to the building where Jesus is but it is so crowded that 

there is no way they can get their friend on his bed through to the Healer.

So instead these men improvised.

I love how they didn't give up!!

They just KNEW the power Jesus had.

The men went to the roof and started removing some 

of the tiles to make a hole.

Then they lowered their friend down to Jesus.

Now I would have loved to have seen this first hand.

I mean really!!

Think about it,

you are in the middle of listening to the Messiah speaking

and you start to hear banging and dust and rubble starts falling from the 

ceiling and all of a sudden a man is being lowered from above down

to Jesus.

There is no telling what was running through the minds of every person

there when this was happening.

Ok,

back on track. ;)

It says,

"When He saw their faith, He said to him, 

"Man, your sins are forgiven you."

Isn't it interesting how Jesus didn't ask him what the problem was.

He didn't ask them what they wanted Him to do.

In fact,

Jesus didn't even address the elephant in the room!!!!,

that this man was paralyzed.

No!!!

The first thing He did was say to the paralytic man,

"Man, your sins are forgiven you."

Immediately the scribes and Pharisees get their panties in a wad.

Isn't that like the modern day church?!

When God does something that doesn't fit into the "norm"

they start speaking against it and declaring "This can't be God!"

But Jesus, perceiving their hearts, says,

"Why are you reasoning in your hearts? Which is easier to say,

'Your sins are forgiven you?' or 'Rise up and walk?'

In the Old Covenant, 

forgiveness came once a year and it was by the 

shedding of blood from a pure spotless animal.

These teachers of the law could not

understand how a "man" could forgive another 

of their sins.

But they did not know or recognize in whom's presence they 

were standing!!!

They were in front of the One who is pure and spotless

that would shed his blood once and 

for all for the sins of the world.

Jesus continues to say,

"But that you may know the Son of Man has power on Earth to forgive sins"-

He said to the man who was paralyzed,

"I say to you, arise, take up your bed and go to your house."

Immediately, he rose up before them, took up what he had been lying on,

and departed to his own house glorifying God."

Jesus came and paid the ultimate price for our unrighteousness.

When He poured out His blood on that cross over 2,000 years ago,

He paid for our past, our present and our future sins.

Over 2,000 years ago when He did this, 

every one of our sins were future sins!!!

Know that your identity is no longer a sinner once you have 

put your trust in Him!!

You are a saint!

You are His beloved!

You are His righteousness!!!

No sin you may commit can separate you from His love.

The only thing that can separate you from Him is choosing 

not to believe.....

THAT'S IT!

To each saint and each sinner,

know that 

YOUR SINS HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN YOU!!!!

2,000 years ago He forgave you for what you would do!!

You have been forgiven!!!

All you have to do is accept this amazing gift of Grace that 

He poured out for all of us!

-Amen!!!

When the Spirit is Silent

Lately I have been going through a quiet season.

My husband teases me because I talk about everything being a season.

Well, it really is.

Life is one big collaboration of ever changing seasons,

some just last longer than others.

But the past few weeks, it has been one of those seasons 

where you can feel alone,

even though you are never alone and God is never far from you 

because He placed you inside Christ whenever you gave your life to Him.

It's just been quiet and calm and .....is that birds chirping that I hear?!!!

I got on this morning planning on sharing a tidbit on Change

but not one fiber of my being felt that that was appropriate 

with where I am right now.  

(But that post will come and is 

SO encouraging!!!)

I have very mixed feelings about silence.

Our home is a very LOUD place!!

3 kids, 

one who hates loud noises yet 

is the loudest person I have ever met,

2 dogs, some pigs and chickens and a goat...

yes, its quite noisy around here most of the day.

So a lot of times the silence is welcomed...

then it's feared..

(what are the kids getting into now?!)

it's craved...

and then it's the last thing I want to be experiencing.

When things are quiet in my spirit,

the enemy automatically jumps in and 

starts whispering failures, shortcomings and

insecurities.

But I am realizing,

God wants our spirit to rest too.

We live in a very fast paced,

excessively distracted,

selfish and draining world

that is full of expectations

and demands.

As a mom,

I am constantly distracted.

I am constantly pulled on by something or someone.

I am constantly giving from the time I wake in the morning

until the time my children fall asleep at last night.

For me to find rest for my body is hard enough.

I have made it a goal of mine to intentionally

take a little time out of each day to allow myself 

to rest and to have one day a week where I don't 

let my time revolve around the endless list of things that

need to be done.

But I have never let my spirit completely rest.

I often try to find ways to constantly stay connected 

to Him.

Yet, sometimes, He just wants me to 

fully and wholly rest in Him.

Allow the silence to come in and permeate every

part of me.

Be filled in the quiet even though it

can be uncomfortable and feel distant.

Zephaniah 3:17 says: 

"The LORD your God in your midst,
The Mighty One, will save;
He will rejoice over you with gladness,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing.”

How beautiful is that?!

God is always with us!!

He rejoices over us with gladness and singing!

And He quiets us with His Love.

HE QUIETS US!!!

HE allows the silence to come!

So have joy in the silence.

Let your spirit rest.

Know that this is only a season that too shall pass.

It is preparing you for what is coming.

And be still.

-Amen!!