Joy in the Journey

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. “ Woe to me!” I cried, “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” Isaiah 6:1, 4 The past couple of weeks have not been easy ones. It seems that the enemy is not content to attack one area of my life but rather likes to hit multiple targets and he has great aim. There is no avoiding the attacks. They are blatant, loud and disturbing. On one front I'd made up my mind to just not look at it. Ignore it and it will fade away. That didn't work. Meanwhile I continued doing what I do, seeking God first thing every morning, meeting with Him in prayer, reading and simply being together. From there I've had the strength to face each day and though there are dents in my joy by evening, I have my nightly refresher with my Abba and as promised in Sc...

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this; while we were still sinners Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 On Sunday I took part in a class on authentic faith. The object of the class is to make people comfortable with sharing their faith journey. There are various levels of comfort in sharing something that personal. This was my third time participating in this class and I've seen everything from total comfort, an eagerness to share, to the “okay but this is uncomfortable” all the way to the not there yet, maybe someday but not today response. The latter I understand completely while the former is maybe somewhere in my future, I sit in that midrange, mostly dependent on who is listening. The group I was with on Sunday is easily my favorite so far. It was comprised of lovely, open, absolutely delightful people. One in particular is a young woman named Olivia. I met her shortly after I joined this church and immediately loved her. She is a beautiful girl, inside and out...

Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man's house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can rob his house. Matthew 12:29 Several of my friends are gun owners. I joke that a gun in my hand is weapon for whoever is coming against me because I have no clue how to use a gun. I do however, have weapons that can keep my worst enemy away and those are praise, worship and thanksgiving. My life has never been threatened by someone with a gun. I've never been in danger of losing my possessions to anyone holding a gun. I have been threatened by someone, namely Satan, attempting to steal my peace, my joy and my faith. Satan could care less if I own a gun or whether or not I can use it. He is not deterred by guns. What does deter him is any attention that I give to God. In the past few days I've been challenged on both the professional and personal fronts of my life. In my humanness I felt attacked, disrespected and hurt. It woul...

  But because of his great love of us God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions, – it is by grace you have been saved. Ephesians 2:5 It is part of my morning to time with God to write down ten blessings. It's a great way for me to start my day. On a good day when I wake up feeling just fine or better, it's an excellent reminder of why I have that contentment. On a bad day, when I feel challenged or ill, it's a way to switch my focus off of what isn't going well and onto the gifts I've been given. This morning one of the things I wrote was, “the gift of faith.” Just seeing the words in print made me feel so, so blessed. Faith isn't something I set out to earn. It is a blessing. It is absolutely a gift. I love to talk to people who are aware of that truth, the kind of people who recognize the truth of James 1:17, that every good and perfect gift comes from our Father in heaven. The look of joy...

Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:10 Those words are familiar to most Christians. In some denominations they are prayed so often that for some people, for most people at some point, it's just words. Think for a moment about those words. “Your kingdom come.” If you've read the Bible you know that the condition of our world today is pretty far away from God's kingdom. What words come to mind when you think of heaven? For me it's words like beauty, peace, joy, love, warmth, comfort, caring, grace and mercy. Those things are pretty hard to find in the news today. I avoid the news as much as possible. The words that come to me when I think of the current state of the world, the “news” are words like selfishness, greed, darkness, fear, hatred, pride, disaster, anger, and death. Every now and then, however, I see glimpses of God's kingdom. Thankfully I'm currently attending a church where, for the most ...

  May the Lord grant all your requests Psalm 20:5b Read that verse again. “May the Lord grant all your requests.” Hm... At first that seems great, doesn't it? I know I've read it many, many times because it is in Psalm 20 which includes verse 7, one of my favorites, “Some trust in chariots, some in horses but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.” I love that verse! I go back to it a lot and often read the whole psalm so clearly, I've read verse 5 before. Today, however, those words really grabbed my attention. Instead of thinking, “Yes! Please grant all my requests!” I was overtaken with dread. What if God really did answer all of my requests? Not the well thought out, continually prayed requests that really might do some good or be in my best interest or that of a loved one but what if He granted all of my requests? As I thought about it several small, petty, self-serving requests came to mind. Then, horrifyingly, some bigger things, like saying that I w...