I wanna be free!

This morning while talking with some great ladies,  the question was posed ,"are you living free"? Sure, I was born and raised in a "free country", but am I truly living HOLISTICALLY free?  Or am I living as a slave to myself and the world?
Galations 5:1  "It is for freedom that Christ set us free.... Ok, so re-read that. So HE gave us freedom so we could LIVE FREE.   Having any sort of "false Gods" puts us the bondage of slavery. It chains us to our former self.  God's plan for you and for me is a life of abundance.  Of Wholeness, joy, peace, joy and comfort.  FREE. When we live in constant fear of our futures or when we maintain unhealthy relationships.... when we share irritation or even hostility to strangers (ie the Walmart Clerk who is going so sllllloooowww), or to the ones we love the most! ... When we use our "freedoms" to indulge in the flesh, we are allowing ourselves to be burdened by the yoke of slavery.  Instead, Lets "live FREELY-animated and motivated by God's Spirit. (Gal 5:16)  This does not mean we walk around always being perfect.  We are human.  We will fail because of our freedom.  But that same freedom can set us free.

Gal 5:22-23  But what happens when we live God's way?  he brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard-things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity.  We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people.  

I want to live like that.

Where was God?

"...You planned evil against me but God used those same plans for my good... easy now... nothing to fear."- Gen 50:20 The Message Bible

We live in a broken world.  A world with disease, senseless murder (even of children!!),  & broken hearts.  Where was God when the bombs exploded at the Boston Marathon, or when my friend fell from a waterfall in front of his wife & daughter?  Where was God when my girlfriend became a widow at 38?  When my own body is constantly working against me as I fight MS?  Where is HE when my sister searches for true love or when my friend buried his baby boy?? I want to believe with my whole heart, but sometimes doubt creeps in and I am left with so many questions... WHY WHY WHY???

This is what I know.  God promises He is with us.   He promises to go before us and prepare a way for us.  EVEN if our path is right smack on a course of tragedy, disease, & heartache.  Still, God's plan's are always good.   His plans reveal His power and love for us.  EVERY TIME.     It usually takes time and a hindsight to see the big picture of His perfect Plan.  But His Word promises us, time and time again that He is, was and will be there.   

 ^" It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”-  Deut 31:8

"I will go before you
    and level the mountains,
I will break in pieces the doors of bronze
    and cut through the bars of iron..."  -Is 45:2

 “Be strong. Take courage. Don’t be intimidated. Don’t give them a second thought because God, your God, is striding ahead of you. He’s right there with you. He won’t let you down; he won’t leave you.”  Deut 31:6

Psalm 139:5 ..."you hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me"   One meaning of hem is "to surround or enclose somebody or something"  He is ALWAYS. THERE.

You Heart's health: Pura Vida!

How is the health of your heart?
Can you honestly say you feel His love deep within your heart... through lifes pains and aches?  Do you feel His NEVER changing, NEVER ceasing, AlWAYS constant presence in your life?  He loves you without reservation.  Without justification.  Without  "buts and ifs"  He's not waiting for you to become better to love you more.  His love is perfect and constant.   Jesus Calling, my favorite devotional, had great things to say about the weeds in our hearts today!  What weeds are taking up space in your heart?  (and mine)!
Pride? Worry?  Selfishness? Unbelief?

Imagine Him as the Holy Gardener ever present in your heart.  Constantly at work within us to rid us of these stubborn weeds, so that our hearts will be lush and healthy.  Full and beautiful.  Because the weeds can't last in the light of His Presence.  The light will scorch out the selfishness.  Burn the unbelief... until our lonliness just shrivels and worry fades.   God's light can turn our weeds into lush, colorful gardens of love and abundance!  How beautiful is that???

But we all know that some weeds are really tricky... No matter what we do, they still seem to creep back in.  Just as we get busy in another area of our "gardens', turn our backs,  there they are... BACK AGAIN!  The best remedy for weeds is to prevent them!!! We must start with rich soil.  Our hearts health is nourished by spending time with Him, time in His Word.  Fellowship with believers.  We become healthy when it is not about US.  This is how we keep the weeds from even starting!  So even when troubles come, we can allow His Peace to light our heart-space with healing and health.  This changes us.  It makes us available to receive God's perfect, never changing, never ceasing, always present love!!  Then, friends, it's (as they say in Costa Rica)  "Pura Vida"... (rough translation:  pure life: it's all good)

  

The "wonderful" cross...?

O the wonderful cross, O the wonderful cross

Bids me come and die and find that I may truly live

O the wonderful cross, O the wonderful cross

All who gather here by grace draw near and bless

Your name

Were the whole realm of nature mine

That were an offering far too small

Love so amazing, so divine

Demands my soul, my life, my all

Wonderful Cross?  This idea seems so backwards,right…?  What could possibly be “wonderful” about our Lord dying a brutal and painful death on the cross? After hearing my Pastor, Kevin, touch on this last Sunday, I got curious.  So I dug a little deeper into the word "wonderful"

Some different meanings of the word that got my attention...

wonderful:  joyous and grave; beautiful and repulsive; surpassing human comprehension; causing amazement joined with terror; marvelously extraordinary

 ahhhh... Yes.  The cross is wonderful.   A place where Love meets sorrow. Where our brokenness was healed.   "His wounds became your healing. You were lost sheep with no idea who you were or where you were going. Now you’re named and kept for good by the Shepherd of your souls."- 1 Peter 2:24   

See friends, we were created to live abundantly!  That's why Jesus came... "I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of." -John 10:10

So as we bow in awe at the foot of the cross...when we cry for the suffering Christ endured for US, we must remember-this is not just a sad movie with the best gory effects. This is OUR LORD dying.  FOR US.  All so we could live abundantly.  It can’t just move us to tears on Good Friday, cause us to celebrate on Sunday, and then just go about our “worldly life”on Monday…  it MUST change our hearts and guide the way we live!

Is what you’re living for worth Christ dying for?

 

Becoming...

Romans 12:2-4 from The Message Bible

"So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—(even your yoga!) and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you."

I love these verses!  This is a recipe coming straight from God's Word on how to become the best YOU!  (and me!)  We can "get up and try, try, try" (to quote the song by pink) every day, but until we surrender to Him, our quest for righteousness and self-discovery will never amount to anything!!  It's not about what WE do for Him... It's all about what HE does for US!!!

I recently read this great quote somewhere (?!) that said something like... "if you are searching for yourself you will never find yourself; instead, seek Christ, and then you will find Him, and in the process, you will also find yourself!"  The only way we can become who God truly created us to be is to seek Him with our whole hearts, surrender to Him, and respond quickly to His Holy whispers in our hearts!  Surrender takes practice, friends... and constant maintenance! But, as a sister in Christ just taught me...the MOMENT we surrender, He begins a transformation within us.  Isaiah 43:18 reminds us to be present... to watch what He is doing... for He is about to do something brand new!!!

Let's be present and watch.  Watch who we are all becoming in Christ. 

Fear ... NOT!

Do you ponder the question, who am I, and WHY am I here??? Rest assured, dear friends, you were designed with a clear purpose... He knew all the intimate details of your life before you breathed your first breath...!  

Let's read Psalms 139 ... again! And let it marinate.  
Read each word and really let it simmer.  

Psalms 139:13-16  The Message Bible
"Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
you formed me in my mother's womb.
I thank you, High God- you're breathtaking!
Body and soul I AM MARVELOUSLY made!
I worship in adoration-what a creation!
You know me inside and out,
you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;all the stages of my life were spread out before you, 
The days of my life all prepared before I'd even lived one day."


Isn't that amazing!?  He took great care in designing us, and has a special PLAN for each of us.  The God who created the oceans and the stars and the heavens has written YOUR life story...How does your story glorify Him and give you life in abundance?  I am still discovering and trying to understand what His Holy Plan is for my life.  So I will Pray.  Be Still.  And listen.

The NSRV version says 
"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."

So this got me thinking... does He want me to be afraid of Him??  So I have been diving little deeper into the idea of being FEARfully made... What does this mean??  FEAR is a common theme in the BIBLE... You probably have your own ideas of what it means to fear God, and I myself ask WHY in the world would He want us to be SCARED of HIM???

Why would God... the God that loves us so much that he sent HIS ONLY SON to die so that we could be with Him for eternity, want us to be "scared" of Him.   
So maybe this "fear” that He calls us to to is not like “scary movie afraid”.  When we truly live a life in Holy fear of Him, we are free of worldly fears!  God did not design us to be "fraidy cats"!

2 Timothy 1:7

New International Version (NIV)

7 For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid,(A) but gives us power,(B) love and self-discipline.

To fear HIM is to be in AWE and REVERENCE in His Holy Presence... It implies submission.  It is to be STRUCK with amazement for His Power.  It is to BOLDLY proclaim Him as the Ultimate Supreme Power over the world.  A God fearing life means the END of other worldly fears!

Run to Him!

Do you ever feel lonely? Stressed out? Overwhelmed? Angry and irritated? 

Picture your troubles, fears, doubts and emptiness like a pool of dark, murky waters.  Waters that seem overwhelmingly dangerous and unpredictable!  Like a deep abyss of sin and doubt.  Now in stark contrast, imagine His mercy taking your hand and leading you to clear waters of peace!  These waters are inviting...Smooth & Predictable.  Easy & Gentle!  Even when the waters get choppy, you still feel the overwhelming calm of His Peace.  

This is a life with Christ.  His love is constant...It never changes!   "We can not worry and trust God at the same time!" (Babbie Mason)  By living in fear and worry, we are making our hearts home the muddy, dark waters of this world.  

Proverbs 30:5 "Every promise of God proves true; He protects everyone who runs to Him for help. 

 

Where do you run for help?  Let's get out of the murky waters and enter into the Living Waters of His Peace!