Fire Shut Up in My Bones!

I had a wonderful weekend at the Extraordinary Women’s Conference with the ladies from my church. God is so good for many reasons, but I wanted to say He is good today because He made the way for me to go to the conference when, at first, I didn’t think I would be able to go. Once there, it felt like He was speaking directly to me because of what each speaker so eloquently spoke about.  I have to say that I have been so busy lately that I didn’t know whether I was coming or going and I know that is not the plan God has for me. You see, God never wants us to busy that we are not turning to Him first. He never wants us so busy that we seem to forget that He is the reason for it all and every person alive today is lumped in with that reason. One of the things that was mentioned at the conference that stood out to me the most was, “Just say ‘Yes”! That is saying a lot because there were so many good words spoken that I am afraid I may have failed to write them all down.

I want to be the type of person who has no hesitation when it comes to being available when God calls me to step out.  Most of the time, we are fighting against the precautions and fears that crowd into our minds and tell us of all of the bad things that will happen if we step out. It’s like we are playing a game of spiritual wack-a-mole, where we are afraid if we pop our heads out of the ground and start to step out, wack, here comes the sledgehammer to knock us back down. Ok, well, let’s say that’s the case, then you know what to expect, so let’s get moving. We should be taking our stand by praying before stepping out anyway, so let’s do just that.

There are so many people in our world who are hurting and in need of help right now. The only true help that can be given in the face of their adversity is Jesus. The biggest issue we face, is that people are not put off by our weaknesses; they are put off by our hypocrisy.

I know, you’re asking, “Well, what is that supposed to mean? I’m glad you asked. It means that if instead of trying to hide what we are feeling, where we are hurting, what we are going through and where we stumble. Instead of judging the person in front of us going through the same things, we just simply loved them like Jesus did and showed them that we are all struggling. Then they would follow Jesus like they did back then when He walked this earth. You see, Jesus chose the disciples that He did, not because they were perfect, but because they were hurting and struggling, and because people could relate to that. No one wants to follow someone who is judging all of their shortcomings when they can clearly see that the person who is judging them is struggling with the same. However, what if, instead of judging, we said, “I know you are hurting, and I know you are struggling. I still do too, but you know what, I know someone who will accept you with open arms, and not only that, do you know that He gave His own life so that you could be saved. He wants to love you for eternity and spend His days pouring life into you. Did you also know that He is there closer than a brother,” and He loves you so much that when God the Father asked, “What can we do to ensure that these children stay with us forever?” Jesus said, “I will go down and be their sacrifice so that they can live with us here in Heaven for eternity.”

Wow, can you imagine such love and sacrifice? There was a time when I couldn’t, I knew it had to exist, but maybe it just didn’t apply to me because I hadn’t found it yet. Then I finally heard Jesus’ voice, and everything changed. Am I perfect? No! Far from it. I am bought with a price though, a heavy price. That price was Holy blood poured out so that I might live. I am so thankful for that blood though, and even though it breaks my heart that He went through that for me, and you. So why wouldn’t I say Yes! To Him and what He is requesting.

Just remember, “Just say ‘Yes”, is to have the courage to just say yes to God. No matter what He asks you to do, be open to it and just say yes!

Learning to Walk

Isn’t it funny how we seem to over-complicate the simple? We allow our own thoughts to work against us in our pursuit of just about everything. The way that we think about things is usually defined by our life experiences and so, we tend to lend either a positive or negative spin to what we are trying to accomplish.

When we are born we are totally at the mercy of those who are taking care of us. Over time though, we learn to turn over, crawl, and eventually to walk. No one would ever think that in the process of learning to walk, you could just take off running. On the contrary, before you can take off running, you must fall and get bruised and beat up sometimes. The wonderful part is that in the beginning stages, you have so many who are excited to see your first steps and they enthusiastically cheer you on. What happens though once you start walking? Do those same people stick around and continue to cheer you on or after a while, do they lose interest and move on to the next exciting thing? Now that you have that image fully in place, let’s think about your spiritual walk.

I can remember first getting saved and how there were so many in my corner cheering me on and excited to see me come to Christ. However, over time, these same people lost focus on my walk and started living their own lives, as should be expected. Unfortunately, though, this new phase of your life can get lonely because now you still have to learn to walk without tripping over your feet. Or you’re trying to run away from the past life that keeps trying to chase you down and overtake you. When you are first born again you are on cloud 9 and it seems like nothing could possibly go wrong but eventually, the enemy that has been trying to weasel his way back into your life, he rears his ugly head and starts the temptation cycle. There are so many ways in which he tempts us but let’s see if one of the ways he has tempted you is on this list: