Joy and Strength (Christian life and music)

I have been waiting for some email responses lately, some of which can potentially change my life.  It has been nerve wracking for me. I've prayed about it, gave it all to God, and yet it still weighs on my heart and mind - the uncertainty, the wondering, and the not knowing. It's hard to truly let go sometimes.  I believe I trust God with my whole heart.  And yet when there are some issues on the line that affect my life, affect my immediate future, and just plain can either make life harder or easier for me, I give in to anxiety. It is a miserable place to live!  But I do not need to stay in that miserable state of mind. Especially when I belong to omnipotent God who is for me, on my side, ever watching out for me, and doing all sorts of wonderful things on my behalf behind the scenes.   How do I know He does all of these and more?  He promises to do them.  And if you are a child of God, you too have the same promises from His infallible Word. We will still have to wait on so

It was dark.  The disciples were on their own in the boat.  The waters around them grew rough.  The winds were blowing. Scripture does not record the disciples praying, crying out to God, in this tumultuous moment.  They simply rowed faster.  They rowed for almost four miles!   They kept trying to find their way out of the storm in their own wits and ways.  It didn't work. They got out of their fix only when Jesus arrived on the scene.  And boy, what an entrance! Jesus walked on water in order to reach His disciples.  This tells us that Jesus will go to great lengths in order to help us. What mess do you find yourself in?  Are you still trying to "row" your way out of it in your own strength?  That does not prove that you are strong or have your wits about you.  It proves that you do not trust Jesus. Unless Jesus is telling you to "row harder," then your rowing is in vain, friend. Jesus got into the boat with the disciples, and immediately they got to where they

I believe that all prayers to God are good and that He hears every one of them. But I have found that when I pray on my knees, there is a supernatural power found there.  God still may not answer my prayers in a way that I want, but it is not always about "getting" answers.  Praying on my knees is a faith-builder nonetheless because it draws me closer to Him. This is because it shows my dependence on God, my need of Him.  The posture of being on my knees reminds me that my place is to be humble before Him.  It reminds me that He is Lord, worthy of my reverence. Do I believe He hears me better when I pray on my knees?  I do not. I believe that He hears all of our prayers, written, spoken, thought but not spoken out loud, sighs, anywhere, any time, all the time. But there is something about getting on my knees to pray that calms me, centers me, brings me to a better place simply by doing it.  It is not magic.  But I believe the Lord is pleased to no end when we pray this way.  

Waiting for something to happen that only God can do for you? Believing that God is working behind the scenes on our behalf, when nothing is happening in the natural, is a test of faith. We think we know when a provision or deliverance should happen.  We don't. That is up to the Lord. If you have known Jesus for any length of time, you have experienced what are known as "divine delays."  They are not meant to be understood (or even enjoyed!).   But know this.  If what you are expecting God to do is part of His plan and will for your life, it is coming! Do not see a delay as a "no" or as it not happening ever.  But see it as on the way.  This perspective will give you new hope and life as you wait on God. I experienced this recently in a very mundane way.  I placed my usual weekly grocery order for home delivery.  Normally, I am able to edit my order, remove items, add items, up until a few hours before it is delivered. But this week, there was a glitch on the we

So my New Year prayers started out with me telling God what to do. I only half jest.  As I prayed on my knees, pouring out my heart to Him, I wasn’t finding peace. I was feeling more turmoil than peace. Until... I finally blurted out, "Lord, I give You carte blanche with my life."  Then, sweet release. His beautiful peace filled my soul. It seems counterintuitive to how we are wired in the natural.  We all want some semblance of control over our lives.  But when you belong to the Lord, He leaves some things seemingly unresolved in your life.  I don't know all the reasons why He does this.  I only know that all He does is done in love.  Great love.  Everlasting love.  Holy love.  Righteous love.  Problem with us is that we've been sold a bill of goods as to what real love is.  So when God, in His perfect love, allows certain trials to linger in our lives, our rational, worldly, fleshly minds cannot understand why He would allow such seemingly harmful things to continue

This morning during my quiet time with the Lord, I had a revelation.  I feel like I may have already known this on some level, but it became clearer to me. The revelation is that I do not have to wait for a location or place to "enter in" to the Promised Land.  Yes, Joshua and Caleb entered a physical, literal land.   But I believe that our "wilderness" is not always due to our circumstances, no matter how abysmal.  I believe we can know and live out God's promises for us anywhere and in so doing, we "leave" the wilderness and enter in to His bounty. That's what the Promised Land was - it was rich agriculturally, filled with life. This is more than "positive thinking."  So much more! This is taking each promise that the Lord has given us in His Word and actually believing them! Did you know that you can know something without really believing it?  I know plenty of Bible verses by heart, but when I live in doubt, fear, worry, anxiety, and

This is a wonderful promise from God to us.  Most Christians are familiar with this verse.  But how many of us actually do it? I confess that I am not always a great caster.  I cling, complain, doubt, and worry - but cast?  Not so much. To cast our cares on Jesus means to leave them there.  So I can give my worries and cares to Jesus, but in the next 10 minutes, be worrying again!  Sound familiar? So how do we not "go back" to our worries, doubts, and fears, both little and large? Trust. Do I really trust God to handle and alleviate my cares and worries?  I have felt His beautiful peace when I truly leave all my cares with Him.  So why do I go back to anxiety?   Lack of trust. Now I must tell you, realizing that I may not trust the Lord as much as I think I do hurts.  A lot.  I have built my adult life on placing my trust in the Lord.  So when I am still capable of distrusting, I get upset with myself.  I know better. I should be beyond that. I believe this comes from not lik

  Jesus heals.  He healed people when He walked this earth as a man and He is still healing people today through His power and Holy Spirit. Even when He was among us, He didn't have to be present to heal someone.  There is the account of the canturion (if you are not familiar with this account, please read here ).  And there is the account here in Luke 17:14, the verse I want to write about today. Three words stuck out to me: as they went.   Jesus could have easily touched the lepers and healed them right then and there.  But for whatever reason, He told them to go on.  He told them to go show themselves to the priests.   Now why would they want to go show themselves with their leperous bodies to the priests?  Did they simply do as Jesus asked, knowing that He is Lord, and not think why they were doing so?   Jesus didn't tell them that He would heal them on their way to the priests.  He simply told them to go.  Did they intuitively feel that they would be healed as they went? 

  Lyrics to the first verse and chorus to my song, I Believe: Far away from You such a long time Disconnected and confused Lost my direction Almost lost my mind Trying to make it without You     Thought I could find myself a better way     But there is no way without You          I believe that You love me          I believe that You care          I believe that You saved me          From this empty life that was going nowhere          I believe Trying to make your way without God?  Then this song is for you.  

Jesus is a writer. He is the Author of our faith.  He is writing it, we're just living it out. Faith is built in the dirt, muck, and mire of life. So what is God writing anyway? Do you want your "happy ever after" more than you want a perfected faith?  And do the two have to be mutually exclusive? Do you get more excited about acquiring earthly transient stuff than you do about spiritual growth and strengthening your faith? I believe God is writing a very different story than we would have written for ourselves. God's story for our faith is much grittier.  How do I know? Because holy heart work is painstaking.  God has something much more precious for our lives. He is grinding at the mill.  And the grist is our faith. That's His greatest desire for us - that we let Him finish our faith story.  Do we believe Him?  Do we trust Him?  Do we want Him more than our earthly pursuits?  When you think about how a self-sufficient God - the Creator of everything and everyone

Perhaps you've heard it before.  "Rise above" your circumstances.  But what exactly does that mean and how do we do it? I believe it is both a mental and a spiritual feat.  We need to  think  differently about our situation or problem that seems insurmountable.  Are we focusing on the problem too much?  We will never rise above, if that is the case. But how do you  not  look at what is "in your face," so to speak? Some spiritual battles are fiercer than others.  Sometimes, the enemy comes in like a flood. When we feel like we're drowning in a sudden influx of "water," and we cry out to the Lord for help but we are still drowning, then what?   I use the drowning analogy perhaps because I just watched "The Perfect Storm" the other night.  I'd seen it years ago but watched it again.  A spiritual attack can be like the "perfect storm."  All forces come together and hit us at once, and we feel out of control.  We cry out to God,

We all do it.  We put God in a box.  We know in our minds that He can do anything, even the impossible. But in real life, we're more inclined to look at ourselves, our resources, our limitations, problems, etc, etc. Taking our eyes off ourselves is step one.  That's enough work for most of us! But beyond that, we admit that He is telling us to do something we cannot do in our own power or resources or strength. God asks us to do the impossible so that we will know that HE is the one behind it, making it happen.  We do not get any credit. God gets all the glory. Moses couldn't part a sea.  No way, no how, never in a million years. But God could!  And He did!  Moses was trapped.  There was no way out, no way to escape the Egyptian army coming after him and his people. But God knew the way out!  He had it all worked out for Moses.  All Moses had to do was obey God! Now we may never see a sea part.   But we all have, or have had, or will have, impossible situations where we are

My faith isn't perfect.  The perfectionist in me hates that.  After all, I have already been through so many trials, tests, and tribulations - all either caused or allowed by my Lord - that I was hoping my faith would be perfected by now.  To never doubt.  To never waver. But I'm just not there yet.  I feel like I was  there before.  Before the hits just kept on coming, with no end in sight. See, I thought I would be in a season of plenty by now. Now don't get me wrong.  I want for nothing, really.  I am very grateful for all the Lord has given me. By season of plenty, I mean more a season of fruition .  Where the heck is all the fruit from all of the former seasons of "threshing," "raking," "plowing" - you get the gardening metaphors already?   I don't see the fruit with my eyes yet.  And I don't always sense the spiritual fruit in myself, either.  Especially when I doubt. What's a girl to do? Is it possible to regress in our faith

Why do we need faith?  Because life is meaningless without it.  That's the broad, overarching reason for it. We also need a daily, everyday, kind of faith - for days add up to weeks, months, years, and a lifetime. Faith is a substance.  This is a hard truth to conceptualize.  It is also evidence.  Now evidence is usually tangible, provable, rock solid in its nature. So faith is proven evidence, it has a substance to it.  It is not some pie in the sky, wishful thinking, or dreamlike state.  It is as real as reality gets! Faith has an end, so to speak.  We believe for something to happen - we pray about it, wait on God for it, trust Him to do what only He can do - and when He does, there you have it: the evidence of things unseen.  "It really happened!"  Yes.  No coincidence.  No reasoning it out or using science to back it up.  It just is.  Our faith made sight. I have seen God answer so many prayers - I have 34 years' worth of prayer journals as my evidence of His fai

What are you worried about?  Do you have many cares?  Do you worry easily?   Have you ever asked yourself why you worry so much?  Has worrying ever done you a lick of good?  What does it accomplish?  Does it solve anything? If we look at worry straight on, see it for what it is, I don't think we would ever worry again.   What worry "offers:" Anxiety Fear Uncertainty Stress Doubt Physical side effects Who in their right mind would want these things in their life?! But how can I help it? you may ask.  You do not "have to" worry.  I repeat, you do not have to worry.   You have a choice. Reasoning and trying to figure out every little thing is exhausting.  And no matter how smart we are, or think we are, our intelligence and reasoning skills are no match for God's omniscience and wisdom (to say the least!). That is why when we "give it to God," surrender our worries, fears, and doubts, and allow Him to resolve, heal, deliver, protect, provide, and what

Here is my latest song.  Warning: you will not be able to get the hook out of your mind!  Sing on! "Be on your guard; stand firm  in the faith; be courageous; be strong." I Corinthians 16:13

You want escape.  You want the easy way out.  And who wouldn't?  You've prayed and prayed and still no relief.  You even fasted.  You have the faith.  You believe God implicitly. And still your prayers go unanswered. You start to believe that it is not God's will to heal your loved one.  Years have passed.  Still no end in sight. What happens to our faith when our most heartfelt, fervent prayers are not answered when and how we like? I have found that I either get more persistent - pray more often - or I am tempted to just give up. "I guess it is not God's will to provide in this way."  How do we seek God and believe He has the best in mind when He allows a painful situation to continue? During His earthly ministry, Jesus healed everyone who believed in His healing power, who believed in Him.  Over and over we read in the gospels where He says, "Your faith has made you well."  (Mark 5:34) Or "According to your faith, let it be done to you."