Clouds

This morning I went for a 645 am jog around the neighborhood.  After coming up the large hill and reaching 2 miles, I decided it was time for the cool down walk. As I slowed to a walk and began to stretch, I noticed the clouds.  Funny how we don't often notice things until we slow down and observe.  The clouds had been there the entire jog I'm fairly certain, but until I slowed down to a cool-down pace, I didn't rightly begin to admire and think about them.  Doesn't God remind us in Psalm 46:10 to "be still and know that I am God"?  He goes onto say in the second half of that verse, "I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."  What better way to "be still" and come to know God than through the clouds.

Come sit with me a moment and see what Jesus revealed to me this morning.

The first time I looked up to see the clouds in the sky, I saw the light of the sun revealing itself in a most radiant orange glow on the top edge of this cloud.  Clouds may hide the sun, but that is not always a bad thing.  Are not the most magnificent sunsets and sunrises when there are clouds in the sky for the light to bend off of and create most magnificent colors and brilliance?  For me they are.  They show the extent of the light's reach in the sky.  It's as if God takes a paintbrush and paints the sky to show His glory and magnificence.  Clouds may lend themselves to darkness when they hide the sun or are bringing rain, but what joy that brings in the heat of summer when you've been in the blazing sun all day long!  The moment of reprieve...the shade from the clouds coming in front of the sun...are most welcome and appreciated.  And the rain that brings life and cools down the earth is most refreshing.
                           
                           
                           
But today, the cloud in the sky spoke of something else.  It spoke of our Savior, the Light of the world, who consistently comes to greet us each morning without fail whether we see Him or not.  This morning He smiled upon me as He ran and talked with me.  The light that brilliantly hinted to a new a day in the cool of the morning reminded me that more is yet to come.  "For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face.  Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known" (1 Corinthians 13:12).  Isn't that exciting?!  One day, in heaven, we will fully know God as He already fully knows us.  Just as the sun illuminated the edge of the clouds with the anticipation of showing itself fully, one day we will see Jesus, our Light, face to face.  Oh glorious day!

Today the skies were blue with a only a few clouds to be seen...the white, fluffy, cumulus clouds...the ones little kids (and sometimes adults if we slow down enough) will lay in the grass to look up at to see what shapes can be seen.  Do you remember doing that as a child?  Or maybe you still do it as an adult?  Isn't it fun to see where your imagination takes you?  Was that a rabbit?  Or perhaps a whale or a knight in shining armor?  But if we don't choose to slow down...pause...and look up...then we will never see the glory of the clouds and the glory of the Son who made them.  If we take the time to be still and patiently wait on the Lord, you will be sure that He will surprise and teach you more than you thought possible.  Because when we slow down to listen and observe, the lessons and the teaching can truly begin...
                           
                           
                           

Enjoy the journey as you stop long enough to observe and learn from the creative, created world around us.  Look up and see the glory of God.

May I leave you with the words David penned in Psalm 19...

1 The heavens declare the glory of God;
     the skies proclaim the work of His hands.
2 Day after day they pour forth speech;
     night after night they reveal knowledge.
3 They have no speech, they use no words;
     no sound is heard from them.
4 Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
     their words to the ends of the world.
  In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.
5    It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
     like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
6 It rises at one end of the heavens
     and makes its circuit to the other;
     nothing is deprived of its warmth.


7 The law of the Lord is perfect,
     refreshing the soul.
   The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy,
    making wise the simple.
8 The precepts of the Lord are right,
     giving joy to the heart.
   The commands of the Lord are radiant,
     giving light to the eyes.
9 The fear of the Lord is pure,
     enduring forever.
   The decrees of the Lord are firm,
     and all of them are righteous.

10 They are more precious than gold,
     then much pure gold;
   they are sweeter than honey,
     than honey from the honeycomb.
11 By them Your servant is warned;
     in keeping them there is great reward.
12 But who can discern their own errors?
     Forgive my hidden faults.
13 Keep Your servant also from willful sins;
     may they not rule over me.
   Then I will be blameless,
     innocent of great transgression.

14 May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart
     be pleasing in Your sight,
     Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.

Walk with God

This is a letter I wrote and shared with a friend last week after she had given me a "soft no" as Lysa Terkeurst would say in The Best Yes.  We had planned on walking that morning together at Leita Thompson Park, to get back in our previous routine of accountability and exercise, but she had text me that morning saying that she felt called to spend time with God that morning writing.  Below is my transparent letter to her after I had spent time with God.  Come walk with me and share my journey with God that morning.  Blessings, Krista

Can I just share with you how good God is?!  After receiving your text message this morning that you were unable to walk with me as we had planned because you needed to spend time with God to write an Easter message, I was disappointed, but I understood.  So I opened my Bible and turned to Proverbs and read for a bit, but the birds were calling me to come join them outside, and I had prayed last night for God to postpone the rain till after 1030 am so we could go for a walk.  God was faithful in answering that prayer and delaying rain, and even now it is still delayed, but what I didn't realize last night, is the walk was meant for Him and me this morning.  

I made my decision that I would not waste this gift God had given me in delaying rain, and would go for a walk anyways.  I had thought about inviting other people to join me on this walk (friends from the weekend retreat), but something kept telling me I was meant to go alone, despite the fact that my father doesn't like me to go walking by myself.  So I picked up my laminated scripture cards from this weekend (only 4 out of the 6 and none were chosen intentionally by me) and headed to Leita Thompson Park.  As I walked along, I began to memorize those 4 scriptures and ponder them in my heart and mind, break them down to understand their meaning and not just read them.  

Would you know that the first scripture God had me memorize was John 14:27 "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you.  Not as the world gives do I give to you.  Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid."  This is exactly what I needed to hear at the beginning of this walk with God when I was feeling disappointed.  Then He led me to John 17:3, "And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent."  After that, John 10:38, "I give them eternal life and they will NEVER perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand."  But what is more remarkable is the verse God led me to last (and remember, I didn't pick these cards, I just took them off the table and out of my Bible)...John 15:11 "These things I have told you that my JOY may be in you and that YOUR JOY may be full."  Wow!  I was certainly feeling joyful (and loved) after finishing with that verse and thanking God for putting those verses in that order.  I then wanted to read the context for John 15:11- what things had Jesus told them prior to this verse that led to His joy being in them and their joy full?  John 15 is the vine and the branches which is what Clay Scroggins has been talking about for the last 3 weeks and what I listened to on Monday.  Wow.  And by the end of those first verses in John 15, Jesus leaves us with the command to love one another and that if we abide in him, we will bear much fruit.  He also tells us in verse 16, "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit- fruit that will last [joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control]- and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you."  Isn't that incredible?!  Jesus chose us so that we will bear much fruit, the fruits of the Spirit, and when we stay connected to Him, when we are seeking God's will and purpose, then He'll grant whatever we ask.  And I just love how the word given to me the night of Esther's Table was "Chosen".  

I'm simply reveling in God's love for me right now.  :)  But alas, I must get some rest before work.  Love you, and thank you for choosing your best yes this morning and saying "no" to me so that I was able to discover God's love notes to me this morning and draw nearer to Him.  

Abiding in Jesus

You can teach me in so may ways and through anything, can't You Papa?  You are Immanuel, God with us.  And that is Your heartfelt desire for each of Your children...to remain in/abide in/stay connected to You.  It is only when I (the branch) stay connected to Jesus (the vine) who is connected to You (the ground/the firm foundation from which all life and nutrients come from) that we-that I- can bear MUCH fruit- joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).  And sometimes life gives us obstacles- physical obstacles (sickness, isolation), mental stoppers (fear, anxiety, unworthiness) in an attempt to keep us from You.  But the devil is a LIAR!  And You will remain in me if I remain in You (John 15:1)- if I stay connected to You through prayer, through communication, through reading and memorizing Your word, seeking to know You face, Your character.  Isn't is true that in any relationship, the more we spend time with someone, the more we become like them?  But isn't it also true that we can never become them?  But the awesome thing about Jesus is that He is more than just with us, He lives in us if we believe in Him.  He gave us the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, to speak into our lives, speak on our behalves, to guide us and to counsel us.  But we must receive.

Which brings me to today's visual lessons about obstacles getting in our way of abiding.

This orange cat called to me in a sweet meow from the other side of the fence.  Let's pretend I'm (or you are) the cat, and Jesus is me.  The cat playfully basked in the sun and rolled around in grass glancing over at me and occasionally calling to me but not coming any closer.

This could be me in the early parts of my walk with God, or, and I believe this is the case in today's lesson, it could be me when I'm unsure of Jesus (or unsure of myself) and whether or not I can trust God (or even if can believe what He says about me).  Maybe something bad has happened recently (or in the more distant past) and I'm learning to trust again (not so with me, but perhaps with you?).  I want to draw nearer to Jesus again, but something just feels distant, so I hesitantly call out to God to see if He'll answer me.  And like I did with the cat, God will call us to come to Him and draw near.

The next step in the cat's journey (and in ours) to abiding with me (with Jesus) is to move nearer to Him.  Jesus does not force Himself on us and neither does God, but They will meet us where we are at.  So the cat comes up to the fence and I pet him and gently speak to him, reassuring him the I may be trusted.  Doesn't Jesus do the same thing for us?  When we've stepped away or perhaps never drawn near before, Jesus speaks softly and tenderly to us to reassure us that He is love and will not harm or hurt us and can be trusted.  Now the cat is wanting to be pet and keeps moving back and forth along the fence but really isn't satisfied with that kind of connectedness- it's better than nothing, but there is still a fence in the way- there's still an obstacle.

So I walk into the yard and away from the fence, beckoning the cat to follow, to jump the fence and follow so he can enter into my presence and be loved on like he really wants.  But the cat is hesitant to jump over the fence.  He walks between the two fences of my yard and the neighbors' yard and feels powerless to make the jump to draw closer.  I'm still gently calling and encouraging, but he feels stuck- there's still that fence to overcome and now the obstacle of fear is also there.  Have you ever felt that way before?  The cat chooses his steps carefully to avoid being snagged by the weeds between the two fences- to avoid being hurt by the predicament he's in from the path he's chosen, but all the while, he looks to me as we look to Jesus to get us out of our predicaments.  So I speak to him and tell him there's a stump connected to the fence that will get him higher so he may jump my fence and commune with me.  Be he still seems confused- another obstacle.  Satan wants to keep us in confusion, to draw us away from the Savior, but "God is not the author of confusion but of peace" (1 Corinthians 14:33).

So I led him to the stump. I drew closer to the cat and pointed to the stump- I met him in his confusion and in each step of the way he looked to me.  In each step of our journey in relationship with Jesus Christ, we must look to Him.  Once on the stump, I beckoned him to jump the fence- but he misinterpreted my call and jumped to the neighbor's wooden fence.  Perhaps it looked more sturdy, but it took him further away- but only slightly.  It can sometimes feel difficult to understand the Father when we've been distant from Him, but keep persisting, He is always there and is patiently waiting and calling to You.  Now the cat was more at eye level with me.  He then began to try to figure out from his new position (his new perspective) how to reach me.

I wasn't mad at him that he misinterpreted my command to jump the fence.  Maybe he didn't feel ready to do that.  I didn't abandon him because he moved farther away and say "Stupid cat!"  No, his eyes were still set on me as I watched him.  As he walked along that fence with two feet on the top edge and two feet on the lower crossbeam, he kept looking back to me for direction.  And Jesus does the same thing for us.  He will never leave us nor forsake us (Deut 31:6, 8; Joshua 1:5; Hebrews 13:5).  He meets us where we are at (Philippians 4:19).  2 Chronicles 15:2..."...The Lord is with you when you are with him.  If you seek him, he will be found by you."  This is exactly what the cat was doing.  He was seeking me- seeking to be connected and loved by me just as I am seeking the Lord today, and He is teaching me in mighty ways.

So after the cat made it to the end of the fence, he sat on the post and got in position to jump but was frightened (after all, he had almost slipped off the fence earlier.  And the jump seems so far...surely I won't make it!)  Have you ever thought thoughts similar to that when faced with a challenge?  I have.  Again, I encourage him to jump.  Perhaps from this new height- this new perspective- it would be easier for him to jump, to clear the fence and come join me without obstacles.  But soon the cat was feeling defeated after trying to encourage himself to jump and clear this obstacle in front of him, to muster up the courage to do so.  But the courage just wasn't in him.  Have you ever felt that way before when faced with a trial or obstacle?  I have.  I know friends who have.  So that cat sat for awhile and rested on the post.  He still didn't feel any closer to me and still had not been properly pet, but he chose to rest and listen for me to speak to him again.  And that is exactly what Jesus asks us to do...to rest.  "The Lord is our Shepherd, we shall not lack anything.  He makes us lie down in green pastures.  He leads us beside still waters, he refreshes our souls" (Psalm 23:1-2).  So I held out my hand to one of the fence posts and he came and I pet his head, but still it was only a taste, a mere teaser, of what I had to offer.  With each step we draw closer to Jesus and with each step Jesus meets us, we long for more of Him.  Our appetite for Him becomes insatiable.  Now that's a good appetite to have!

Eventually I led the cat back to the stump, and he jumped down to there and I pet him and he soaked it up.  This time though instead of petting him through the fence, I reached over the fence to pet him more fully.  The fence was still there, but slowly the cat began to experience more of what I had to offer.  God may not remove the obstacles, but He will meet us and love us through them.  He may even pick us up and carry us over them to be with Him.  He has already overcome and He wants us to experience all He has to offer!

Thank You Jesus for Your tenacity to love us and guide us even when we don't hear You correctly and move away. But when we continue to draw near and abide in Him as a branch abides in the vine, then we learn to recognize His voice and understand His word and trust Him enough to surrender all of us to Him- all the insecurities and doubts, the fears, the worry, the hurt, and the pain- every struggle.  And when we "bring [Jesus] the sacrifice of [our] time: a most precious commodity"..."blessings [will] flow streams of living water.  [Jesus], the One from whom all blessings flow, [is] also blessed by our time together" (Sarah Young, Jesus Calling, August 2, p 225).  John 7:38 "Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them."

Go forth each day choosing to sacrifice your time to Jesus, so that you may experience Him and be blessed!  

Wasted Time

This is originally from February 2014, but applies equally to today.  Back then I was squandering my time through distractions and computer games and who knows what...basically wasting time instead of doing the things that I know needed to be done to refresh and restore my soul and enrich the lives of those around me.  So I share this with you today.  Thank you for taking the time to read.  May you find something worthwhile in this.

"Father, please clear this house of mine, both the physical one I live in where I walk over everything instead of committing to do something with it, but also my spiritual and physical home (body) that I live in.  It needs to be exercised (the muscles are tired from disuse) and my spirit growing scattered.  Father, today I feel defeated, depleted and worn out.  Please create in me a transformation.  My hands are open.  Master Painter, please guide my hand and take the brush and create in me a masterpiece.  I confess I can be fairly clueless often times and have little idea how to navigate this story called my life.  Sometimes I like to think so, but really, no--  I'm falling into old patterns again Father and I don't like it.  I thought I learned this lesson this summer, but perhaps this one is a bit different, but I am willing to learn Father.  I fall before You now, arms wide open waiting to receive Your comforting, guiding, loving hand, Your gentle touch, to gently life my teary, downcast face to look upon the Light, the light of Jesus.  John 8:12 "I am the light of the world..."  In John 1:9 Jesus is described as "the true light that gives light..."  The true light that gives light; He can not be snuffed out.  He shares His light- no gives us His light. "You Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light" (Psalm 18:28).  "...Let the light of Your face shine on us. Fill my heart with joy..In peace I will lie down and sleep for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety" (Psalm 4:6-8).  

Father, thank You for Your light that shines into dark places, my dark places- not as dark as some peoples' but still not all light.  Father please shine Your light and clear out old cobwebs and dust from unused places and scrub clean the things I'm not proud of.  Thank you.  In Jesus' precious and holy name, Amen"

Spring Forward...Lessons about time

March 8, 2015.  Last night we set our clocks forward one hour and today we feel like we've "lost" an hour.  Of course, there are still the allotted 24 hours to our day, though our clocks make us think otherwise.  

What does scripture say about time?  We can learn a lot about time from the wisest man in the Old Testament, Solomon, in his writings in Ecclesiastes 3

There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under the heavens:

a time to be born and a time to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot,

a time to kill and a time to heal,

a time to tear down and a time to build,

a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance,

a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

a time to search and a time to give up,

a time to keep and a time to throw away,

a time to tear and a time to mend,

a time to be silent and a time to speak,

a time to love and a time to hate,

a time for war and a time for peace.

I don't know what your present circumstances and time hold, but what I do know is that we all have a finite time here on earth, "all come from dust, and to dust all return" (Eccl 3:20).  God "has made everything beautiful in its time" (v 11).  So whether you are facing hardship right now feeling like the weight of the world is against you and you're finding it difficult to face each new day, or you are on top of the world celebrating a victory, know this my sister, God knows what you are facing and He is right there with you ready to meet you where you are at.  

God shared with me at the beginning of this year that 2015 would be a year of change for me.  He didn't speak in specifics, but He made it clear that things were going to change in my world.  So right now, I find that my time is to give up things.  To go through my closets and get rid of and donate those clothes that I no longer wear.  To give up eating just because I'm bored and instead choose other activities like walking outside and reading my Bible.  I'm excited to see what God has in store for me this year and in the years to come, and I'm excited to see what He has in store for you too.

With spring comes warmer weather and the scenery around us starts to change.  The birds can be heard singing their songs to greet each new day.  Flowers that have been dormant under the cold, hard ground begin to peak above the surface in search of sun...and in doing so, bless us with so many wonderful and magnificent displays of color.  Caterpillars will start to turn into butterflies through the magnificent process of metamorphosis and farmers, both commercial and neighborhood alike, will prepare the soil and plant the seeds in anticipation of harvest.  

  

So maybe right now is your time to mourn, but very soon, it will be your time to dance.  Or perhaps, you've been experiencing the sting of relationships gone bad, and have been praying for healing.  It's a new season.  Embrace it! Open up wide the windows that have been kept shut for so long, and welcome in a new air...feel a warm breeze and let in the warm light that encourages not only the soul, but the body as well.  For "a cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones" (Proverbs 17:22).