Open Here…

     We mark time with years and moments. Someday time will no longer be relevant, but here and now it’s how we make new beginnings – a New Year…

I’m not much of a goal setter and I’m pretty certain if I was I would disappoint myself regularly. But I do have aspirations, do desire to see change and growth, to feel the difference that purpose makes.

God had a purpose for putting His Word in writing – that we may have all we need for life and godliness. He had a purpose in sending His Son to die for us, that we can be cleansed from all unrighteousness and have eternal life. And He has a purpose for each and every one of our lives “The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me” (Psalm 138:8 NIV)

Our part is to be prepared so we are useful for Him to fulfill His purpose through us. That’s where His Word comes in, as He speaks to our heart ‘Open here’. Randomly opening our Bible and reading where our finger lands is not what God has in mind. Do we pick up books, reports, spread sheets, whatever it is we regularly read and just let our finger tell us where to start? What if we approached reading the very Word of God with the same purpose we do in reading instructions, emails from our boss, or a novel?

Open here: where a devotional directs us, where a Bible study leads us, where we hear at a sermon on a Sunday. Open here: to a passage we feel drawn to asking His Holy Spirit to teach us. Open here: breathing it in like a fresh bag of coffee, lingering over it like a decadent dessert.

“All my longings lie open before you, O Lord; my sighing is not hidden from you.” (Psalm 38: 9 NIV) Every sigh is heard, every longing known by our Maker. Nothing is hidden nor does He hide His purposes. He longs for us to daily live on purpose so we can know His heart.

A beautiful song – Come to Me – by Bethel Music is a sweet reminder to take with us as we venture brave into the New Year:

I am the Lord your God,
I go before you now.
I stand beside you
I’m all around you
And though you feel I’m far away
I’m closer than your breath
I am with you
More than you know

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8GOII4PrrA (Come To Me YouTube Link)

 

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Getting Lost, Finding…

     Lost? Ever right where you’re supposed be but can’t find your way?

Strangers on this earth, it’s easy to wake each day, do all the things we’re supposed to and suddenly look around and question – why?

Is there purpose in all this daily doing?

When Paul was on a ship adrift, lost, and bound for wreckage, all the men on the ship were despairing, but he calmly said to them: “But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed.” (Acts 27:22 NIV) Paul was not lost, wherever he was, he knew his way Home…

In the wreckage of our days: suicides, terrorism, financial ruin, tornadoes, famine – maybe not so daunting but still our stuff – wayward children, lost job, car accident – maybe even just the frustrating – lost keys, late to work, broken window… we can feel abandoned, adrift, lost…

Remember  “the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” (Luke 19:10 NIV)

So today in the midst of the delay in your expectations, the disappointment of hopes not fulfilled, the deceit of worldly pleasures you can still find the Way for He has told you how to get Home… “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to Father except through me.” (John 14:6 NIV italics/underline mine)

In the lostness rest in this “Like the wind, grace finds us wherever we are and won’t leave us however we were found.” (Ann Voskamp underline mine) When you find yourself in Him you can be sure who you were will be radically made new with each step you take towards Home…

Join me in the journey leading straight to where we want to be?

 

October 30, 2014 B.R.A.V.E.

     Journey – to start at one point and end at a different point. Twenty-nine days ago we started a journey… beginning with trying to figure out what fear is to us and maybe what triggers it. Trying to figure our what brave is and what we want it to be for us.

We have learned that it is normal to have fear, but not to be paralyzed by it. We will have fearful times, but we have a God who is bigger than any fears we may face. To find peace in the midst of the turmoil does require action on our part: to seek out the One who is in control. We will fail at this fear thing and find ourselves gasping for relief, but we are never alone.

For victory over our doubts and dreads we must be prepared. The preparation lies in knowing the God who knows you. Saturating yourself in His Word and praying only to Him. Knowing Him so well that He is your go to source of comfort. We need to quiet our inner chatter and bring the fear thoughts captive as we choose to believe His authority over all.

Braver living is living in joy when happiness is absent. Even in our pain there is purpose. God can use us to comfort others when we’ve walked the road before them.

B. R. A. V. E. =    Believing

                        &  Resting

                  in His  Amazing

                             Victories

                              Everyday