“Head to Toe”

My children often teach me amazing things. My son, Isaiah, had a “boo-boo” on his knee and wanted me to pray for it when he went to bed. I was happy to pray for my son’s discomfort. As I prayed for Isaiah’s knee he added, “Okay, mommy, pray for my stomach too.” So I prayed for his stomach too. Once again Isaiah added, “Mommy, pray for my arm now.” I continued to pray and Isaiah went to add yet another ailment for me to add to the prayer list and I quickly prayed, “Okay, Lord, please touch and heal every area of my son’s body from the top of his head to the bottom of his toes I thank you Lord that you heal him completely.” Isaiah jumped in and said, “No, mommy, my head and toes are fine I only need prayer for my knee.”

I had an epiphany… Isaiah was correct, in all his innocence my son knew something profound about prayer. I only need to pray for the specific area that I need. God does not need our generalizations He wants us to trust Him with the specific area that needs His attention. My Father wants me to pray specifically and He longs to answer me specifically! A “Head to Toe” prayer won’t cover it when God longs to know the details of our lives, to be let in to our specifics. He is faithful if we would just go to Him with our specific need!

Do you find yourself praying a “head to toe” prayer instead of being specific with God?

Maybe we are in a hurry and the generalization fits our time limits. Maybe we are afraid to go to God with the details. Maybe we are struggling to trust God with the details, if we lay it out there and nothing happens, then what? But, I read a great book where the author spoke about praying specifically. This book author pointed out that when we pray specifically it makes way for God to answer in a way that is undeniably Him! At that point there is no doubt that God heard and answered because we chose to trust Him and take time to be specific with God.

Do you want to see God answer you in undeniable ways?

“I See Trees!”

My recent transitions have been full of countless opportunities to trust God alone as I am walking blind. Not really sure of which way is the right way sometimes. Even feeling uncertain once I have leaped if I chose the right way. This can be a place where the enemy loves to run to keep us in doubt and I hate that. As I continue to press in to what God has for my life and stick close to what I know to be true in His Word I begin to see things more clearly in Him.

In Mark 8:23-25 we see the story of the blind man being healed by Jesus. Now, I am not physically blind and this story implies the healing of a man who was physically unable to see. I see a clear resemblance to our spiritual blindness and this man’s physical blindness. In both cases God wants to heal us. When God heals it is His heart to heal completely. I feel like that blind man, I know Jesus has touched my life and I know some of the details as to which way I am to go at the various crossroads in my life. But, there still seems to be this uncertainty… I think I see trees! I have a general idea of which way to go or what to do but it is not perfectly clear. God is so good to us that He asks us, “What do you see?” And when we answer, “I see trees.” He is so good that He touches us again so that the clarity we need will come forth. It is simply up to us to let Him know that we see trees and allow Him to touch us a second time.

One thing I have learned of God’s character is that He is not about confusion or fuzziness He is about clarity. God does not want me to see trees; He wants me to see clearly in Him!

Do you ever feel like you “see trees”?

"Seen"

I love to blog or write, primarily as an outflow of what God is doing in my life. I have had my ebbs and flows of blogs and desire to be consistent in my public journal as it were; and in that effort here I am again. I have missed this!

I have had many changes in my life over the past six months – actually since last October things have been on a roll. But, recently I had a very hard day that felt crushing to my soul. It was strange as the actual events would seem insignificant to most or even ridiculous but to me they were monumental and painful. Partially because the events that hit me were pulling on strings of pain that I have not fully resolved from an experience I had last year.

However, I took those feelings and cried out to God in my meager attempt to give Him my hurt, no matter how ridiculous the situation was that stirred this deep pain in me. I walked away from my prayer and carried on to prepare for an event that I am speaking at, of course thinking “How can I do this right now?” One thing I have learned is that most, if not all, of what I share is out of what God is doing or has done in me be it through a blog, a book or public speaking. All I have is what He is working out in me and He is always faithful.

As I began to open my notes and look at some things I went to the verse in Luke where we see Jesus raise the widow’s son to life (Luke 7:11-16). The part that struck me was not the miracle of raising the boy to life. Yes, Jesus raised the boy from the dead and that in itself is worthy of awe but what got me was that Jesus also saw other details in her circumstance. Jesus did not just see and address her son who had died He saw that she was also a widow. Jesus saw not just those details but what those details meant for her life. Jesus saw the ramifications of the details for the widow: she would have been uncared for, alone with no provision, she would have been hopeless. Jesus saw everything that the details of her circumstance implied; He saw her! When Jesus saw her He went out to her and when He went out to her He addressed the circumstance and gave her son back to her not just addressing the pain of losing the son but addressing her need for provision in every aspect of her life.

Did you know that Jesus see’s you? That when He see’s you He is moved to care for you in this same way?! When I looked at this I knew that in the pain I was experiencing God saw me! He saw the ridiculous details that mattered to me and He cared.

Do you feel that God see’s those details that seem to only matter to you?

“Inside Man”

My husband and I have a good friend who is currently in jail after being falsely accused of things he did not do. Our friend is awaiting his trial and we anticipate that he will be found innocent and that justice will be served. However, as people who believe in God it is difficult to wrap your head around injustice or unfairness, big or small. Naturally, this got me thinking… We believe that God is in control but how can He leave an innocent man in jail? There is always so many debates that a conversation like this can take but the main thing I think of is what the enemy meant for harm God will turn for good – and I believe this truth with all of my heart!

But, there is another aspect to this. What if God allowed an innocent man to remain in jail for a time because He needed an "inside man"? Maybe God needed one of His own to be in a position to reach those that no one is reaching out to in an effective way. Maybe God trusted this child of His enough to allow him to be the one that is His "inside man" for a purpose beyond himself. Maybe an "inside man" is needed because no one else is going to the place that needs to see the love and compassion of God!

Think about this… Many go through difficult things that we cannot wrap our heads around. Maybe God is allowing something in your life because He needed you to reach those that otherwise would not be touched by His Love. Or, maybe you have been through something in your life that allows you to be someone with perspective that you would not have otherwise and now you are positioned to be the "inside man" that God needs to reach others! Never underestimate the effectiveness of the "inside man" that God puts into place.

Are you an "inside man" for Gods plan to reach others?

“Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast!”

Today I have found a new faith exercise… Something that I can focus on that will build my faith. As of late I have been having a difficult time with some things in my life as I have felt a little, scratch that, a lot shaken on every side. I got a little boost this past Sunday when my Pastor gave a great message on "discouragement"; of all things the timing could not have been better for me. I got another boost, when yet again; God gave me perspective on something through a movie. If you have seen the movie the title of this blog would have already shed light on my insight.

We rented the movie "Alice in Wonderland" and watched it earlier today. A very interesting movie, one I was not sure of going into but turned out to be quite good. Alice's father was a big dreamer and was noted for saying that he made a practice of "believing six impossible things before breakfast." Alice followed in his footsteps and was able to overcome by doing the same.

It is interesting to me that the Bible often tells us to remember what God has done. The instruction to remember is never a gentle suggestion more of a: "you must do this!" We so quickly forget what God has already done when we come to our next crossroad of needing to see Him come through again and again. By the time we are at another significant crossroad we have already forgotten His faithfulness. Thus, the faith exercise is to think of the things that God has already done in your life and be reassured that the thing you need to walk through right now will come to pass also.

For Alice, she needed to think and count aloud the six impossible things so that she could slay the jabberwocky. Alice thought of five impossible things that she had already seen and experienced and counted the sixth as the thing she was currently facing. The logic being that these five things occurred before so the sixth will be no different as they are all in the realm of impossible. The logic of faith and walking with God is the same and the instruction to remember what God has done in the past is significant to build our faith in the present!    

For me it goes something like this: One, getting to and going through Bible school both physically and financially. Two, meeting my husband and marrying him one year later, to the day. Three, giving birth to twins when I was never supposed to conceive or carry to term. Four, getting a much needed larger vehicle for a steal of a price and getting them to take my very old mustang at a steal of a price. Five, moving to Hollywood for my husband to return to school. And Six, seeing our next step – receiving the financial provision we need through being Realtors and the open door for my husband in the post production audio industry in whatever location God has for us to live in with incredible pay!

The five things and many others God has already come through for me. I know Gods faithfulness! The sixth thing is my current need and I can trust that God will be faithful here too as He has always been. What are the things in your life that serve as a reminder of God's faithfulness? What do you need to trust God for now? Think of your "six impossible things before breakfast!" God is faithful.

“Know Your Place”

As Christians I think it is sometimes easy to overlook or forget our true position in our good fight of faith. It is easy to fall in line with the message the world gives that we are unworthy with insignificant desires. As a believer we have been set apart, placed in a position of authority and no longer under our sin or shame. However, we continue to approach the Throne of God with the same timidity that we have been delivered from. As most often occurs I have gotten a glimpse of this truth through a film I enjoy; "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian." I think a lot of the time our hesitation to approach God or even circumstances boldly is due to the fact that we just do not know our place, for whatever reason.

There is a scene in the film of "Prince Caspian" where the kings and queens of old approach the location where they are to gather and come up with their battle strategy. When the kings and queens approach, the Centaurs line up and raise their swords in a bridge to show respect for the kings and queens as they walk in. Prince Caspian being with them, who is also noble and called to do great things, hesitates to walk with the kings and queens. My thought is that the kings and queens entered in walking tall because they knew their place. Prince Caspian did not enter boldly or walk tall as he had yet to learn his place.

As believer's we need to know our place and walk tall, enter in to His presence boldly. God has called us His righteousness once we are in Him. He called us to be the head and not the tail, above and not beneath. We see many biblical examples of what it is to walk boldly with God yet somehow we minimize ourselves as not able to accomplish the same things that were done in the Bible. The reality is that Jesus has called us to do "greater things" in Him than we have seen in the Word! Doing some "greater things" will require that we know our place!!!

If we do not know who we are in God, what He has brought us out of, or where He has placed us, we will be very ineffective in the Victorious Life He has called us to. Sometimes I will take time and think of what I desire to do and then think of what it is that holds me back from doing it. One thing I know is that any time fear or a sense of inadequacy tries to creep in that, it is not from God and thus not something I should be carrying with me. As a child of God I am destined for greatness, I am called to come boldly, and I am told that greater things will come out of my life! Think for a moment what are the reasons that roll around your thoughts that ultimately keep you from knowing your place? What prevents you from doing the things you can only do from the position that God has already given you as His child? Know your place and walk boldly!

“Boldness”

Last week I did a little blog on confidence and shared some thoughts on Elijah. Well, ever since then I have not been able to stop thinking about the various aspects of the little bit that I explored. Isn't it just like God to show us that there are so many complexities and revelations that can come from His Word? Not only does Elijah have incredible confidence he also has amazing boldness! Confidence and boldness seem to go hand in hand but mostly they seem to be a very necessary component of those that walk successfully with God. I don't know about you but I want to walk successfully with God.

The portion of this Elijah story in 1 Kings 18 that has stood out to me is in verse 33-34 where he throws water on his offering. The reason this stands out to me is because in verse 1-2 we are told that "for a long time…the famine was severe." This tells me that the people are in a state of drought and lack, that resources were in short supply, including water! If you begin to think about the picture presented here, it is really of a man out of his mind pouring the last ounces of water that they have to survive on his offering… This must have stirred up significant commotion!

We go on to verse 36, which shares that Elijah did what the Lord commanded. Elijah poured the last bit of water they had, in the middle of a drought with no indication of when the drought would end because he was commanded to by God… Sometimes the things God commands of us sound or are completely insane! The underlying purpose in it all is for others to see God. Elijah's insane boldness was so others could see God. Elijah's boldness was simply him walking in obedience to God. Immediately following Elijah's outrageously bold obedience we see in verse 41 that heavy rain was on the way and relief from the famine was near! So often I think we are at a stand still waiting for God to move but really God is waiting for us to be obedient so that He can move!

There are many things in this portion of scripture that speak so much to us as believers. One of the major components that I notice with boldness is back in verse 22 where Elijah says: "I am the only one…" I think one of our greatest hesitations is due to the fact that we are often standing alone in a moment where we need to be bold. Elijah was outnumbered and alone but still saw that it was far more important to be obedient and to walk in boldness, so he did. Another major component with boldness is how much Elijah saw or heard in the Spirit. Elijah knew that God commanded him to do the things that he did thus he had to have taken time to hear from Him. Elijah heard the sound of rain before there was ever any physical evidence of rain; he heard the rain coming in the Spirit! Are we listening for what we need to be obedient to, are we hearing what God is about to do? Boldness requires our action! We have commands to hear so that we can walk in obedience. We have rain in the distance that we need to know is on the way to relieve our drought so that we can welcome the rain in the natural. We need to have our eyes open so that we can recognize our responsibility to act in line with what God is doing in each moment as Elijah did. Our boldness won't exist without our action! Be bold and walk successfully with God!