If you have any doubt there is a God who is still moves mountains and performs miracles today, you should read this article which broke today in the Marietta Daily Journal Online.
I have followed this family’s story, almost since it happened through Caring Bridge. It is an incredible work of the hand of our God.
If you want to read the full story go to Caring Bridge. Here you can show her family and friends your support by signing in and letting them know they have people who are praying and celebrating God’s Almighty hand in their personal circumstances.
Please feel free to share this with all your friends!
I sit and ponder what it is that keeps me from moving forward. Is it fear? I am uncertain. I have a sense of knowing there is something that does not seem quite right. Is it the desire of my heart? Is it really the direction I am supposed to take? I know that my direction will determine my destination. So, is this it? I am not certain.
Last year, I had what I perceived to be an opportunity for a business partnership with someone I respect and love. As I stilled myself and processed what was being proposed, I believed it may be a good plan. Believing with confidence that a door was about to be opened, I sought wise counsel. I had worked diligently, sowing and allowing God to prune and nurture my soul for the past few years. I was thinking that this was it, this was the fruit from all the sowing; it was here, and I was so thankful. I worked an entire day and night, making sure that every thing was in order, and that all the I’s were dotted and all the T’s were crossed. I left no stone unturned. I had prepared well, and I was grateful for what had been put together. As I gathered all the papers, I said one last prayer and jumped into the car to head out for my meeting.
The food was and company was great. We sat by the window, in the tiny little restaurant that permeated a sense of grace and due to a lot of background noise, I found I was having difficulty hearing the words being spoken to me. As I continued to listen intently, and focus on the ideas and strategies being presented, I began to get a sick feeling in my stomach. What I had heard prior to that day, was not what I was hearing today. I sat in dismay, re-thinking every thing while we were talking and trying to listen, without my “feelings” of disappointment being worn on my sleeve. I prayed in my heart that in that very moment, God would lead me out of any direction He did not want me to step. I prayed too, that He would protect each of us from anything that was not from Him.
When we left the restaurant, I got into my car and sat there thanking God for the wonderful friend He had brought into my life. I thanked Him for what seemed to be a gift at first, and now seemed as if it was all a joke. Though I did not understand why it was beginning to feel like the wrong way to go, I set my eyes and heart back onto Jesus and His love for me, and reconciled that He knew best. I knew from past experience, I did not always know what was best.
Sometimes, we don’t understand why things do no not go the way we think they should. When we allow God to be in control of our decisions, He will make our path known. Our part is to believe Him and listen to His direction. The peace we receive from Him, offers more than a peaceful life. It offers us an insight to sense when we are not moving in the right direction and when we are. It’s a prompting from the Holy Spirit. In time, through the process of learning more about God, through His Word, we can begin to actively experience this in our personal lives.
The above situation was one between a dearly loved friend of mine and me. We had shared ideas and plans and thought we might be headed into business together. We each sensed the need to wait, and pray over our decision before we finalized any thing. We knew we were connected by God, but we also knew that it was important to pray about every thing first. We wanted to be sure that this was the direction God wanted us to take. We knew it may fail, if it was not. By committing our plans to God through prayer, we chose not to move forward in our plans. Because we think we know what is best, it is not always easy to accept no for an answer. Sometimes, though it may look like a “no,” it could be that little bit of extra encouragement we need to spur us on to the next step in our journey!
I have learned that when we are not certain, and if there is any doubt, do not move forward. We never fully know the plans of the Lord. We do know He uses other people to help us grow and sometimes, He sends us on our way to grow more, and then He brings us back together at a later time. My experience has been that when I take my plans before God and commit them to Him, He will show the way! By committing our plans to the Lord, we can be certain they will succeed and in His perfect timing!
What about you? How do you remain confident you are on the right path?
I can recall the precise moment when I realized how much God loves me. It was the most fulfilling day of my life and the beginning of many more. I recall feeling so empty and alone before I knew His love. My defining moments were at the beginning of a new year and the end of another life.
It was New Year’s Day and I was taking down the Christmas tree ornaments one by one from the tree, singing along with worship music as I was working. I love to sing and though that is not one of my better talents, I was singing out from my heart. I was alone in the house and I had climbed up a ladder to remove some of the ornaments out of my reach. Once I reached the third step of the ladder, something happened inside of me and a flood of emotions and tears began to spill from my heart and eyes. I climbed down the ladder as quickly as possible and sat in a chair. In that very moment, I began desperately calling out to God to help me and save me from my empty heart that was so heavy and broken to pieces. I told Him I couldn’t do this “life thing” alone anymore and that I needed Him to walk with me, to show me how to live and lead me in my life.
I had realized how my life before was so opposed to Him, and how much He must have been hurting as He watched over me all those years, longing for me to come to Him. I am certain He would have said to me how much better my life could be with Him. Not easier, but better and fuller with more meaning and purpose. I had reached a point of realization and recognition of my sinful life; and that no matter what I tried, doing things on my own was no longer working. My life was a complete mess and it was due to me continuously choosing the wrong path without being aware of it. Going through a divorce at the same time confirmed even more that I had not made wise choices for my life. I wasn’t a bad person; at least I didn’t think so.
What I recognized that day was that I did not have the human capacity to choose the right ways or do the best things, no matter how intelligent or analytical I was. I learned that without letting go of the control, and letting God have my life completely, that I would remain in that current state of emptiness. What I realized and had revelation of was that I was God’s child and even more so, that He loved me no matter what I had done. He had sacrificed His own Son’s life so that I could be forgiven. I remember feeling such sorrow for the way I had hurt Him. How could I have done things so opposed to all He represents?
That wasn’t all, I realized through reading His Word that He literally raised His Son, Jesus Christ, from the dead! He brought him back to life and He ascended to heaven after three days to reign at the right hand of God at the throne in heaven! When I looked at my own life, I then realized that He was offering me the same opportunity. I was being offered a chance to put my old life behind me with my sins forgiven and remembered no longer, and to begin to learn about Him and His truth, His love and His justice. Believing this and putting my trust in Him would start a transformation in me that would change everything. I had no clue what was next. There were trials and hardships to overcome, but I knew, that because I was His child, I was an over comer, therefore I sought above all else to press on to know Him deeper. As I grew to know Him deeper I became more like Him, not perfect, no one except Him is perfect, but my life began to change. My perspective changed, my heart began to soften, to heal and to allow Him to fill me up. I began to reach out to be there for other people in need, to put them first, to spend my time on things that were worthy of His honor, not things that were opposed to Him and would wither and die. I am telling you, this God that we have hears us when we call out to Him and He will answer us. It may not be exactly what we want to hear, it may be a no or a wait; but He will answer and He will do what is precisely the very best for us in the exact timing it needs to be done. He knows our hearts better than we know them ourselves. Him doing everything in His timing causes us to learn to depend on Him more and more, deeper and deeper, until that is all we know, a work always in process. Dependency upon Him and time with Him creates a new life from a life that was once dead, but is now raised in Christ as a new creation.
An intimate and personal relationship with Jesus Christ is unlike any other relationship. No matter where you go wrong, no matter what ails you, no matter how much you hurt, He will be there to guide you when you earnestly call out to Him. That is called unconditional love. There is not one human on this earth that can offer that to another in his own strength. Sure we can come close, but we don’t meet the mark because we are human. Why do you think we call the dog man’s best friend? Could it be because a dog cannot talk back or tell us how bad or disappointing we are to them?
God meets us where we are, loves us where we are and begins a work in us from a heart of love that was there at our creation. He is the Truth and He tells it in such a way of grace that we keep running back to Him for more. Why do we keep going back to Him? He designed us to need Him. He is our Creator and He buried deep inside of us an innate desire to know Him and His love. He loved us first! He gave His own Son’s life for us! When we open our hearts to believe that truth, submit our lives to Him and invite Him to be our every thing, we will begin to see what it means to truly be loved and how to love well. It is through His love that loving ourselves and others well happens. I am a living-breathing testament to this truth. I hope you too can be.
I had someone say to me recently, “You are nice to everyone, how do you do that? How can you be nice to the people who have been so hurtful toward you in the past? How do you put the bitterness and anger in its place?” My response was that,” If I continue to hold bitterness and anger in my heart toward others, it only hurts me. It causes me sickness, worry, and heartache. It causes my heart to be hard and empty. I said that I had lived more than half of my life that way and I choose not to live that way anymore. I am free from that now, I will not go back and live in the past.” That was a long way to say, which I should have said in that moment, “How can I be unforgiving to someone and not extend grace to him or her, when I know so deeply the grace which God has freely imparted to me. I desire to live in that grace every moment and I would never choose to go back. God takes care of every injustice, that is His place, not ours.” God is love; when we love others through the filter of our experiences and knowing His truth, we will reflect the love of Him into others hearts!
Through His truth He has promised to protect us, guide us and provide our needs, as well as promising the assurance of reigning with Him eternally in His Kingdom. Do you have that assurance today? Are you in need of a Savior that will love you no matter what you have done? You have one with His hands extended to you right now, inviting you to know Him. When we invite Jesus into our hearts for the strength to be all He wants us to be, we will recognize our wrong ways and turn away from them and as we follow His lead He will make a way!. He will not fail us. He is the God of yesterday, today and tomorrow. He is unchanging. He is truth, love and grace. He is the great I AM!
If you have read this far, perhaps this has touched your heart. God may be pursuing you vehemently. I am praying for you that you will open your heart and let Him in. If you are willing to let go of the control and open your heart to Him, ask Him to take hold of your head, your heart, your eyes and ears, your hands and feet and lead you into all He has for you, to show you the truth and to enable you, by the power of the gift of the Holy Spirit, to persevere, stand firm and become all He desires you to be. Read His Word in the Bible, connect with others who truly love Jesus and share His amazing grace together bringing glory and honor to His name!
I wish you a Happy New Year! I pray that your year is filled with the peace, joy and love, available to us, only through the Son of God, Jesus Christ.
Today is not a day like any other. The sun will rise and the birds will sing. The temperature may change from one hour to another, but today we have risen from our slumber to embrace what has been set forth for us since before the birth of my youngest daughter.
It is 3:58 a.m. and I have been awake since before 2:00 a.m. It’s going to be a day full of celebration for the accomplishments of my youngest. Today, December 10, 2010, my girl will walk the aisle to meet the dean face to face and while shaking hands, receive her diploma for her graduation from college.
You cannot imagine the joy and thanksgiving in my heart for all the provision God gave to get us here today. Certainly financial provision has been a huge aspect of the whole experience, and without fail God has made ways for me to provide a roof over her head, food for her to eat, a car for her to drive, clothes for her to wear, and all the other hidden costs that are associated with a college education. For all of this I am deeply grateful. But more than this, I am grateful for the woman my daughter has become through her life. There has never been a doubt of the insight and wisdom bestowed upon her beyond her years. She has a heart that will melt yours in all areas and she has known her purpose in life since she could walk and talk.
She used to spend hours upon hours in her room alone playing with her dolls. When I would peep in to check on her she would have them all lined up in rows in front of the white board she had asked for one year from Santa. She loved teaching her dolls whatever she was learning. As the years passed, I knew without a doubt that my daughter would grow up fulfilling her passion to be a teacher.
A few months ago I was going through some of our old things and ran across a book titled, “Growing Up,” which her 5th grade class had put together in 1998. When I read over the words written by my then 11 year old daughter, and pictured where she is in her life 12 years later, I could see so clearly how God had led her into becoming all He had designed and created her to be.
Today we will celebrate her graduation from college. A momentous occasion which would not be here without the incredible hard work, focus, overcoming obstacles, perseverance in the face of great adversity, discipline, wise choices and knowing she was created for this very purpose.
I am proud of my little girl, who has grown up into a beautiful woman of giving and enriching others lives. I am excited to see where she will be led in the next season of her life. Today she steps onto the platform as a student, to receive her diploma, and she will step down from the platform as a teacher, having attained the Bachelor of Science in Education for which she worked so hard. Now she is equipped to join the world of professional teaching, prospering from her passions and creativity, leading children to fulfilling the dreams and purposes in their hearts.
Congratulations honey, I love you and I know you will be the BEST teacher!
“But God demonstrates His own love for us in this; while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 (NIV)
God has loved us since before we were born, when we were knit together in our mother’s womb. All our lives He patiently waits for us to turn to Him and love Him back so He can strengthen us through His abundant love and undeserving mercy.
We go through many experiences that seem to be the end of life itself; but somehow we pick up the pieces and keep moving. It could be any number or combination of circumstances we experience on our journey. Perhaps you can relate to some of these:
We lose a job due to cutbacks; We lose a home in foreclosure; We have a wayward child; Our spouse is unfaithful; We have a prolonged illness; We lose a spouse suddenly by death
All of these events are difficult and hard to manage on our own and sometimes we wonder, “How could a loving God let something like this happen to me?”
God does allow all things to happen. He is in control of all time, matter, and events, which are either tragic or victorious. When something happens in our lives or of those we love, we are being taught to rejoice in these times. Why and how can we do this?
We do this is because as His children, it brings glory to Him. It isn’t that God is a torturous God, it’s that He loves us and wants to teach us how to deal with hardship and trials so we will know Him deeper and utterly depend upon Him for our breath.
One of the first ways we can start to do this is to accept that God loves us no matter what we thoughts we have had, what words we have uttered or what actions we have made against Him in our lifetime. No matter what losses, no matter what victories, God loves us. He loves us enough not to leave us where we are, so He sent His Son to give His life for ours.
Secondly, Jesus Christ died on the cross as a criminal for the forgiveness of our all our rebellious ways. He too, was mistreated and lived a life of persecution and scoffing. His death frees us from the burden of our sin for the past, present and future. He won the victory over sin through His death. Once we genuinely profess that Christ is our Savior, ask for His forgiveness with a heart of repentance and invite Him into our lives to be the One in control, a mighty work begins in us. It may take one day to begin change in our lives, or it may take more than forty years. Usually it is the latter. I have known many people who were misled when they were younger about the truth of God, thereby resulting in years of poor choices, turmoil, loss and emptiness. But in the climax of the moment of hopelessness chose to trust God and depend on Him alone. In fact, I was one of those people.
A final point, but the most important, is that Jesus Christ died for us while we were still out of control, being controlled by our sinful nature. He was raised from the dead and before ascending to heaven to sit at the throne of God, He sent the Holy Spirit, as the gift of eternal life, to live in us as our guide. The effect in our lives is not what we have done, but what Christ did for us. God is in charge of all time, He can go in and out of time wherever He chooses; He is Sovereign. When He dies for us, while we are still sinners, we die with Him and are born again into a new life of freedom. The same power that raised Christ from the dead is the One that raises us out of our lives of emptiness and doom to a new life in Christ. He begins a work in us manifesting His character and His love. When we receive this from God, allowing Him to do a work in us, we receive peace, hope and joy as we have never known before and beyond any man’s description.
The heartaches and tragedies, the pain and writhing, the despair and emptiness are allowed by a God who loves us so much so that we will turn to Him! It sounds funny doesn’t it, but it’s true! In loving Him, He will build up strength in us that a world full of armies cannot overcome.
God is a loving God, but He is also a wrathful God who will have justice and reveal all truth about everything in our lives. There is a day that comes for each of us, and we will either choose to live in the refuge of our mighty God, bringing glory and honor and praise to His name through our lives, or we will choose to keep on living in our own strength and our own way, resulting in emptiness, loss, tragedy, hopelessness and constant worry. There is a path that a man thinks is right, but in the end it is death.
God loves us! He wants to bring us into His love so we can live with Him, bringing praise and glory to His name for eternity. His allowance of events and His wrath in our individual lives and world is a way of protecting us now and for eternity because He loves us so deeply.
I often wonder why it took me so long, but today none of that matters, I am forgiven. I am new and have been made clean. God promises this for those who believe Him.
What can we do to improve our lives in Christ? Do we know Him and His love? Are we free to live in Him?
Scriptures for further reading: Psalm 139:13; 1 Peter 1:5-7; 1 John 3:16; John 3:16; Galatians 5:22-25; Acts 2:24; Psalms 62:1-3; Galatians 2:20
