So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. ~Galatians 6:9
Aren't you glad that the tide will eventually turn? God is constantly reminding me that He is the Author of the seasons and determines the tides in our lives. We can trust Him that those who sow in tears for a season will eventually reap in joy in a new season (Psalm 126:5). The other good news is that God is faith to His Word. His Name is Faithful and True. While the seasons change in our lives, God's character and Word never changes, so we can stand on Him with certainty while our circumstances rise and fall.
The essence of "Seasons Change" is to bring hope. Sorrow may last for the night, but joy comes in the morning (Psalm 30:5). Just hold on. God is coming! He may not come when you want Him too but God is never late-- He is always on time. Just keep holding on... when God shows up, a harvest always comes with Him. The important thing to remember is that He is faithful and He is faithful in showing us how to be faithful to Him! As we honor Him, blessings always eventually follow obedience. So be at peace while you wait.
Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” ~Mathew 11:28-30
I've been meditating on Psalm 23 lately. I know it has become such a cliche--which is why I believe God has had me meditate over it to find the real meaning. I think about David's life and what he has been through. God especially brought to mind David's time in the wilderness when he was running away from King Saul who was trying to kill him. The Lord brought to my attention that while David was running away for his life in the wilderness, his cup still ran over. Although David was waiting to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living, his cup still ran over. Why? Why did David's cup still run over while he was on the run for fear of his life and away from his home land? It was because David had God in his heart. Our circumstances are not what make our cup run over. It is the Lord! That's why it is so important that we come to God time and time again and allow Him to not only fill our cup--but to cause our cup to overflow. It's not our circumstances that fill us up and make us whole or bring us joy--it is the Lord. If we stand on the Lord for our joy, happiness, hope, and overflowing cups in our lives, then our circumstances will not have the power to bring us down. This is a very challenging thing to accomplish in our lives but it is so worth it. Can you imagine the intimacy we can have with God if we just let Him come and fill our cups no matter what desert or wilderness we are in? Jesus says, "Come. Let Me fill your cup." All the praise and the honor and the glory go to Him! I'm so glad that as a Christian, I don't have to live my life being happy or miserable based on circumstances. I can base my emotions and feelings on God--on the only Rock who cannot be moved. This is security. This is building upon the rock and not the sands of circumstances. This is God!!!
"For this is God, Our God forever and ever; He will be our guide Even to death." ~Psalm 48:14
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. ~Ephesians 3:16-19
The undiminished radiance, which is the result of abundant joy, is not built on anything passing, but on the love of God that nothing can change. And the experiences of life, whether they are everyday events or terrifying ones, are powerless to "separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" ( Romans 8:39 ). ~Oswald Chambers
I just want these two passages to speak for themselves. This is part of the journey where I am now: being rooted deeply in God's love and meditating on His awesome majesty and glory! If I am rooted in His love then His love will flow through me and into the hearts of others. This is my prayer for all of us. Come what may-- the good or bad-- it doesn't matter if you are rooted in God's love. His Love is all we need. When other people we are close too fail us or fall through it's ok-- we are rooted in God's love and we draw from His source and His source alone. We never draw from God's blessings to get love. We will always walk away upset or disappointed. Instead, we draw from God's love. Jesus is the living water that never runs dry. He has an endless supply! That's why Christians are totally secure regardless of their circumstances. When everyone has failed us we are so rooted in the Love of God that our cup still overflows. Our cup doesn't not overflow because of God's blessings, but because of His love!!! Even in the desert or wilderness like David-- our cup STILL runneth over (Psalm 23:5)! Because we have access to an unlimited supply of God's love! Amazing and comforting isn't it? The Lord is good to all; He has compassion of all He has made! ~Psalm 145:9
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There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven. ~Ecclesiastes 3:1
I am so thankful that God cannot be thrown into boxes. I am so thankful that God cannot be confined by our circumstances. I am so thankful that God cannot be defined by our limited view of Him. I am so thankful that God orders our steps and saves us from ourselves. I am so thankful that God commands the times and the seasons in our lives according to His Wisdom and Purposes. I am so thankful that God is God and nothing can separate us from His Love through the power of the shed Blood of Jesus Christ on the Cross. I am so thankful that He keeps us in His hands after we have accepted Jesus as Savior.
Thank you Lord for Your infinite Wisdom. Thank you Lord for Your Sovereignty. Thank you Lord for Your infinite Grace. You are so good, Lord. We thank you.
Trust
“Faith, as the Bible teaches it, is faith in God coming against everything that contradicts Him— a faith that says, “I will remain true to God’s character whatever He may do.” The highest and the greatest expression of faith in the whole Bible is— “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him” (Job 13:15).” ~Oswald Chambers
Thank you Lord, for that mustard seed of faith that we need to trust You. You are the author and finisher of our faith and thank you Lord for taking the time to complete every good work in us. We are Your craftsmanship and You are our Maker.
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and be there.” ~Exodus 24:12a
From the end of the earth I will cry to You, When my heart is overwhelmed; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. ~Psalm 61:2
You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet. ~Psalm 8:6
There comes a time in your life when God will call you up higher on the mountain to be alone with Him. You don't pick the time-- God does. He orders your steps. He orders your circumstances. Like the Psalmist says, "When my heart is overwhelmed; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I" (Psalm 61:2). When life becomes crushing and unbearable. When faith is the only thing you have left. When people (family, friends) turn their back on you. When the ones you helped have all walked out. When tragedy or trauma hits. When stress and pressure builds up and you become like a bomb just waiting to explode. It's time. It's time to go up higher on the mountain with the Lord.
During a season in my life when God called me up higher on the mountain, He revealed something important to me. My life circumstances were crushing, but what He told me on the mountain was soothing. He showed me Psalm 8:6. He reminded me there that He has put all things under our feet. He said to me, "Rise above." Then I got it! The higher up on the mountain we go with God the more things He puts under our feet. The closer I draw to my Lord the more I identify with HIM and the less I identify with my crushing circumstances. The more I see Jesus and focus on Him the more I rest in faith and not doubt, fear, worry, or despair.
Is He leading you to the Rock? Is He calling you up higher? Go to Him. Go higher. Draw near to the Lord. Let Him lift you up and put all these crushing things under your feet. The higher you go up on the mountain with the Lord the farther below your circumstances will go under you until they vanish and you can only focus on the One who called you. Peace.
As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust. ~Psalm 103:13-14
You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You. ~Isaiah 26:3
Are you stressed out? Are you worried? Are you fearful? I'm so relieved to know that God remembers that we are dust. He doesn't leave us to our own defenses. He doesn't forget about us. He doesn't overlook us or ignore us. He knows how we are formed, and remembers how fragile we are. Sometimes our circumstances make us so vulnerable--whether it is a health issue, finance issue, relationship issue or all three, God sees us in the midst of them all.
The passage above in Isaiah reminds us that keeping our eyes on God will keep us in perfect peace. In light of knowing that God remembers how fragile we are, we can trust Him. He knows we are at times very vulnerable. He knows our fears and our needs. When we focus on God and remember His loving kindness, we trust Him to provide for everything. He will not leave us nor forsake us. He loves us, and He will help us.
And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. ~Philippians 4:19
...being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a goodwork in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. ~Philippians 1:6
I want to encourage you. It doesn't matter what you've done, what others have done to you, or what the enemy has thrown you into. God can restore your desolate years. This scripture has comforted me so much:
“So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, The crawling locust, The consuming locust, And the chewing locust, My great army which I sent among you.
You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, And praise the name of the LORD your God, Who has dealt wondrously with you; And My people shall never be put to shame.
Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel: I am the LORD your God And there is no other. My people shall never be put to shame. “ ~Joel 2:25-27
Do you believe it? We may be a dead tree but all God has to do is breathe life into us and a new branch is born. Jesus is the resurrection and the life (John 11:25)-- He can resurrect anything! What I love about God is He will take the mistakes that we've made and use them later down the road for purpose that brings Him Glory and does us much good in the end.
Do not fear your past. He is the God of the second chance! All things work toward the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28). Be at peace, and let God work. If you let Him, He will restore your desolate and wasted years. He loves you.
Let us pray.
Father, comfort your children with these words. Lift them up and hold them close unto You. Let them remember Your faithfulness and Your promises. Redemption, O God, is only found in You, and we ask You to redeem us now and restore our wasted and desolate years. Have mercy on us Lord, and we thank You for Your lovingkindness. Help us to be a vessel for Your use so we may show the same mercy and lovingkindness You have shown us to others for Your Glory. We praise Lord, and we love You. We worship only You.
You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, To the end that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to You forever. ~Psalm 30:11-12
The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. ~Genesis 1:2-3
I love how God can turn the bleakest, darkest, most miserable places into a place of dancing and rejoicing! That's what this artwork is all about.
In the beginning, there was darkness, and all God had to do was say, "Let there be light." And there was light! Do you know that God can breathe life into anything? Do you know that He can resurrect anything? Your relationships, your health, your financial situation, etc. Like the above Genesis scripture tells us, light came out of a dark place. All God had to do was speak. God can certainly speak over our desolate situations today and breathe them back to life!
We have to look within during the dark times. Greater is He who is in you! The same power that conquered the grave lives inside of us! Look for the well of water that is never empty inside of Jesus. He will sustain you until God speaks light over your circumstances.
I didn't realize that the process of building solid faith is done in a very dark, depressing, discouraging, and despairing place. But then again, I don't know anyone who gained their faith basking in Glory on the mountain top. It's in the dark valley where we are called to step out on faith and believe God's promises and believe He is good despite how bad our situation might be. That is a place where faith is built! Surely, no one gets there without a struggle and a fight! In fact, some of you may be in the battle for your life right now. Times like that require great faith to pray, "Thy Will be done." It's easy to pray, "Lord, have Your way!" when everything in your life is going good. But when everything you touch crumbles to pieces, when everything is falling apart and nothing comes together, when all hell has broken loose around you, it's a different story-- a faith story to pray, "Thy Will be done!"
Out of the darkest times of my life, I look back and see how God built a solid foundation of faith in me. I may have been backed up into a corner and surrounded by chaos in a pit that kept getting deeper, but God was using it all to make a prayer warrior out of me. He will equip you for your calling in a tough place. Know that you cannot do what God has called you to do, no matter what it is, without great faith. But once we go through what we have to go through to build our faith, God will show us how He has been there all along anxiously waiting to turn our mourning into dancing. God won't bless us with our calling or next stage in life until we are ready for it. We'll stay in the valley as long as it takes to build up the necessary faith. But once we are ready, God will swiftly bring us out of the dark as He speaks light over our lives. Glory be to God!
Jesus rejected at Nazareth:All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him down the cliff. But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way. ~Luke 4:28-30 NIV
“And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave, as a testimony against them.” ~Mark 6:11 NIV
I was going to write on a new piece, but God led me to write on the topic of rejection.This image “Light My Way,” although older, is more appropriate for this issue because I believe God does order our steps through rejection.
Rejection is one of the hardest things we humans have to deal with.One of the definitions of the word “reject” is to spit out or vomit.Being rejected can literally leave a bad taste in your mouth.Jesus knew what this meant.He was rejected by His own people in Nazareth.According to the above passage in Luke, they literally drove Him out of town.But what I love about this scripture is the last sentence: “But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.”He simply went on His way.He didn’t stand in front of a shut door—He moved!
We have to know when to move.We have to know when God is calling us to move.The steps of the righteous person are ordered by the Lord, and God will use rejection as a sign for us to move on (Psalm 37:23).Jesus does not dwell on the rejection or feed off of it into anger or depression.He simply “went on his way.”
Jesus also tells us if we are not received or heard then we should shake the dust off our feet as we move on (Mark 6:11).The word for “receive” in the NKJV or “welcome” in the NIV is from the Greek word dexomai meaning “to receive hospitably, entertain.”In other words, if you are not treated in a hospitable manner by those you have come to minister too or serve with, then it may be time to shake off the dust and move on.
I like the idea here of shaking off the dust.It’s almost like saying, “I’m not going to let this bother me or get to me.This isn’t about me, they are rejecting the God I serve and the ministry He has called me into.”In New Testament times, the disciples would shake the dust off their feet as a way of showing separation from the Jews who had rejected their Messiah.It was a way of saying they made the wrong decision.
What about being rejected by other believers?One of the hardest things we have to deal with is being rejected by fellow believers.We can’t take offense when this happens; we have to trust that God has something far greater for us elsewhere.If we feel we are being hindered and cannot serve in the capacity the Lord has called us to serve because of rejection, then don’t mull over it—move on.Don’t stand in front of a shut door crying.Move on!Jesus was rejected by His own people, and He simply went on His way.
God can use a trap set out by the enemy who led you into rejection and make it into a stepping stone.There is purpose in everything—yes, even in rejection!Rejoice in the Lord for simply lighting your way.It may have hurt for a time, but God has something greater for you.You have to trust and believe that there is a new day coming of getting back up. There will come a day when you can serve the Lord in full capacity in a place were you are received hospitably and able to do all that God has sent you to do.Then, you can truly dance on rejection!Satan may have meant it to stop you and hurt you, but God will always use it for your good.Glory be to God!Amen.
O LORD God, do not reject your anointed one. Remember the great love promised to David your servant. ~2 Chronicles 6:42
This is a very personal piece for me. I had a vague idea what I wanted to portray when I started, but God moved very powerfully in this piece. This woman has come from the mountain top of the Lord and walked through the dry and barren desert to get to her Heavenly Father's promise. It has been a long, hard and very painful journey, but she knows that her God never fails. Along the way God has whispered ever so delicately in her ear "the purpose is greater than the pain."
Sometimes it is so hard believe that God truly loves us when everything in life seems to be working against us. God will back us up into a corner and ask, "Do I favor you?" The answer has to be "yes," because God would not take the time to plan out one tragedy after the next in our lives. (I'm sure some of you all reading this can really testify...) It almost gets to the point where it is easier for God to bless than to strike out against us, but He chooses the latter.
Along the way I've realized that I have to pay the price for my anointing. Jesus, Joseph, David, Paul, Jacob, Esther, etc. all paid the price for theirs. Why would I be any different? The greater the anointing-- the greater test. I've realized in the midst of many tragedies that God does favor me-- despite what my life circumstances say. Only until God has taken every good thing out of Job's life does he say, "I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You" (Job 42:5). When God goes out of His way to take the good out of your life-- to the point where it gets almost comical (you start to laugh because you can't cry anymore), then your eyes have seen God. Then you know Him. You know it doesn't depend on you, and it's not up to you. It's up to Him. The time will come when He will bless, but in the mean time all you can do is believe-- the purpose is far greater than the pain.
God will keep His promises, and they will all come to past in His perfect timing. He is a faithful God who never fails. Be at peace during this time of trial even though it has been long and there may be longer still to go. There is a glory coming for you after this if you remain faithful to His plan for your life. When it's your time to be blessed-- then it's your time, and the devil can't stop! We will reach the lush forest of promise in due time if we do not lose heart.
Remember David's words before He became King:
I would have lost heart, unless I had believed That I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living. ~Psalm 27:13
To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, ~Isaiah 61:3
“ My son, do not despise thechastening of the LORD, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; Forwhom the LORD loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives.” ~Hebrews 12:5-6
We all make the mistake during difficult times of casting the image of our former or maybe present abusers onto God. What a terrible mistake to make! Our abusers are out to victimize us, and they hurt us out of hate and out of spite. We must check our hearts, do we accuse God of the same thing? God disciplines us always out of love and never out of anything else. God is love! Whatever we endure in this life, no matter how painful it is, we can be sure that God can turn it around and get the Glory and use it for our good! God is always in control of our circumstances. Never think that something happens to you that God didn't see coming. The opposite is true, of course. God has seen the end from the beginning. God has a way of working in His mighty power where He is 100% in control of our circumstances and at the same time does not violate anyone's free will. This is how powerful our God is! Nothing happens to you that God is not in complete control over. His Word will not return to Him void and at the same time it will not violate man's free will! God's power is endless!
God will sometimes back us into a corner and isolate us from everyone. We realize in those moments that we truly love God more than we love anyone or anything else. We realize in those moments why we fight the battle of each day and who is in control of all of it. He will use each trial and struggle to tear us down in the bad areas and build us up stronger in the good areas. Oh, what a God we serve! He is constantly pursuing us and working actively on our behalf even in our sleep. He does everything with purpose which is far greater than any pain because after we have endured many trials we realize we are no longer afraid of the enemy's tactics because God will use whatever is meant for evil for our good. The enemy thinks he is in control but he is not. God constantly turns around what the enemy does for our good. God would not allow it otherwise.
After each storm of life we can expect to be consoled. Isaiah says Jesus came for it! When we are embraced by God's deep and abiding love for us we reject any notion that God could be like those who have hurt us so deep in the past. In fact, God uses those very wounds to transform us into doers of His Word and sets before us a very great purpose for which we are anointed for. Jesus paid the price for His anointing and so must we. But when we get to Heaven we realize how much greater the joy it is to have shared in Christ's sufferings and to suffer for His sake because how much more we grow and know the Lord because of all the trials and tribulations of life. We are here to be prepared for eternity and to fulfill the tasks for which we are anointed for. There is no other reason to live other than to do what God has called every one of us to do. Before we get there and while we are there we pay the price, but Christ has long since paid the price for all of our sufferings and it is only because of what He did that we are able to endure. Faith is the victory! Amen.
Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. ~Isaiah 53:4&5
By His stripes we are healed because of the power of the resurrection. Come to the water that only Jesus Christ can offer. His wounds are our own iniquities and our own afflictions, and the water that pours out from His wounds brings life and life abundantly. Jesus cannot set us free until we are willing to let Him. We have to take the first step to come to the water, and let Him enter in to heal us. Jesus carried our sorrows so we don't have too. Let us come and allow Him to abide in us and us in Him so that He can set us free from pain and bondage.
As a woman, I look to Jesus as my Healer Husband. He is my first love. I find that the more I pursue after His own heart, He has been pursuing after mine all the more.
Let us come to the fountain that poured out on the cross and by the power of the resurrection. Let us come to be healed. Let us come to be immersed in His Grace and His Goodness. Let us fall in love again with our first love, our healer, our Jesus.
Lead me to the cross where Your Love poured out Bring me to my knees, Lord I lay me down Rid me of myself, I belong to You
"As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem." ~Isaiah 66:13
Our comfort comes from the LORD. Are you facing a hard time? Do you have so many battles in front of you that you don't even know where to begin? Is your situation so bad that desperation and tears seem to be your only friend? God wants us to place all of our sorrows and burdens on Him so that He can carry us through the storm. Perhaps God is bringing you into a new time of trusting Him like you've never trusted Him before. It may not be easy, but if we allow God to be our Shepherd, then we shall not want (Psalm 23:1). Look to the LORD for strength, mercy, grace, and comfort. If you place your hope in Him you will not be disappointed. For the LORD is our Rock and our Strength. Surely He will comfort His people, and surely He is the author of all redemption and deliverance. Praise God today for His comfort and ask Him to pour out His wealth of Love, Joy, and Peace on your life today.
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