Trusting You'll Breakthrough

(picture from startcaving .com)

I believe that “breakthrough” is simply the breaking down of the walls that separate us from God's perfect will in our lives. I also believe the bricks of those walls are made of the lies we believe.

Imagine being trapped in a mine cave-in, a wall of rubble stands between you and your freedom. From inside you feel helpless until you recognize you're not alone. Your best friend, your most trustworthy friend, is there showing you which rocks to push and which to pull to prevent further cave-in and make a hole in the wall. This is Jesus revealing the lies in each rock. We can see the rock (the lie) but choose not to move it, perhaps out of fear - because it LOOKS like moving that one will cause the rest to come tumbling down on you.

We get to choose to listen to His voice or fall back on our own wisdom, becoming our own voice of authority; the voice that failed us in the beginning.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.” – Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take.” (NLT)

“Trust in and rely confidently on the Lord with all your heart and do not rely on your own insight or understanding. In all your ways know and acknowledge and recognize Him, and He will make your paths straight and smooth [removing obstacles that block your way]. (AMP)

(picture from mediqus .com)

When we listen and obey, we remove one rock at a time, or rocks tumble away because we obediently removed the right one. Aha moment! “Sonlight” bursts through the darkness! (God has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light.  1 Peter 2:9 ) Fresh air comes through the passageway providing refreshing, rejuvenation and hope.

Can we trust our friend with the next few rocks? One hole in the wall won't lead to freedom unless we make that hole big enough to pass through. With refreshing and new hope, we are encouraged to push or pull the next rock He points to. If we stay with it, the hole will eventually become big enough to make our way through. Sometimes, God may even instruct us to make that breakthrough passable to all who come that way, removing even more of the rocks as we make our way to freedom.

We might be able to exist in the cave with our friend, Jesus. But He wants to take us all the way out of the cave, into His glorious creation - physical AND spiritual. There's so much we haven't even seen or been exposed to yet.

If you’ve been in the cave a while, it’s familiar. Familiarity can be sneaky because we're already accustomed to our compromised position.

(picture from cftministry .com)

When Peter stepped out of the familiarity of his boat (that was already sinking) into the fiercely wind-whipped waters in obedience to Jesus calling him to Himself (which looked impossible to do), where was Peter safer? In the boat that was going down, or stepping out in faith, even though this was something he’d never done before? He’d never seen anyone walk on water – till then.

Jesus didn't build a sturdy bridge for Peter to step onto; He needed Peter to trust Him.

What walls do you need to breakthrough today? Will you trust Him?

It might require doing something you’ve never done before….

Silly Sounding Obedience

(My obedience plant.)

Don’t take for granted that because it’s good, it’s God.

God may have someone right around the corner He needs you to speak with or pray for right now, perhaps someone who’s contemplating suicide. So, when we stop to chat with the homeless man begging for quarters just to be nice, we may be “chasing rabbit trails” instead of heeding the voice of God.

This is where listening for His voice; His guidance, is crucial. Every time He speaks to us, His words are worth hearing and living out.

Sometimes God speaks to me about seemingly small things, but they can have monumental effects.

A dear friend of mine tells a story about a time when God spoke to her about wearing a specific dress. At first she was taken aback, asking God, “Don’t You trust me to pick out my own clothes for the day?” But, obedience prevailed, and she wore the dress, which was a bit out of place for her day. She walked out to check her mail and a woman came shrieking with excitement across the courtyard. “My mother made me a dress when I was a girl and it looked just like that one, where did you get it?” she asked. Now, the dress was of little importance in the grand scheme of things, but being invited to a conversation with this woman was where God had some seed planting to do. My friend was able to share some truths about our living Savior, Jesus Christ, with a woman she’d never have spoken to otherwise.

God knew as my friend got dressed that morning who He would bring across her path, and just how He would draw the two together – over a dress.

We may never know the opportunities we’ve missed to share the gospel message or to be a blessing to someone, simply because we ignored the prompting of the Holy Spirit.

What joy can we bring into the lives of others by acting in obedience, no matter how silly or petty we feel God’s instructions for the day to be. Obedience is so much easier, too, when we trust that the results of that obedience are His responsibility, not ours.

I think I’ve shared this story before, but perhaps someone who needs to hear it missed it the first time.

Decades ago, while living in Illinois I crossed paths with a beautiful young Asian woman who spoke little to no English. How could I have been of any earthly good to her? This delicate creature was berated daily by a brute of a husband in the parking lot of our apartment complex. I wouldn’t say those words to my worst enemy, let alone scream them at my spouse!

But, one day I knew God was instructing me to stop at her apartment and tell her that He loves her. I put it off until it was time to walk up to the school and collect my children for the day. As a matter of fact, I put it off so badly that, upon arriving at the corner near the school, I had to inform God that if I went back to talk to her, I’d be late for the kids. Almost as if He was shaking His head and laughing at me, He said that if I’d obeyed Him sooner I wouldn’t be in that dilemma. I turned around and went back.

I was anxious and knew she wouldn’t understand a word I said, but I knocked on her door. No one answered. With a sigh, I was relieved to believe that God merely wanted my act of obedience, but that He wasn’t going to require me to actually talk to the woman. After knocking a second time and getting no answer, I turned to walk away. One step into my retreat, and she opened her door with a fearful, questioning look on her face, half hiding behind her door.

“Jesus wanted me to tell you that He loves you,” I said. (Or something to that affect.) Immediately, she seemed to understand. She nodded her head repeatedly and thanked me over and over again with a smile of joy on her face and tears rolling down her cheeks.

I never saw her again. But who knows what was going on behind her closed door when I got there? Could she have been contemplating suicide? Could she have been mustering up the courage to leave her lousy husband? Could she have just been staring at the results of a pregnancy test? I’ll never know. But, I do know that God used my words - His words, to bless her greatly. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen such a look of joy since.

By the way, I was at the school before the bell rang.

“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thin own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” – Proverbs 3:5-6 (KJV)

"...to obey is better than sacrifice..." - 1 Samuel 15:22 (KJV)

What were His instructions today? What was the outcome? If you’re not too shy, share it with us!

(The "fortune" from my last fortune cookie at Panda Express.)

Hard Words of Love

(picture from wdyl.com)

 Christians need to unite. Not with this world, that would entail compromise, but with each other. Maybe we’ll look at our relationship with the world, tomorrow.

                                                                    

We need to stop allowing our petty differences to keep us apart. Sometimes we literally alienate each other with our opinions and proclivities. Some of us reading this right now already have an opinion they want to share that argues my point. The Bible says that the world will know that we are Christians by our love for one another. Yet, so often, we don’t behave lovingly to those who are closest to us, let alone other Christians whose opinions differ from ours.

We hear the word ‘tolerance’ tossed around a lot in daily discussions, and we’re all generally pointing the finger at someone whose beliefs differ from ours and insisting that they’re the ones not being tolerant. I find myself doing the same thing, quite frankly, because “they” are the ones who appear to be intolerant.

But, why do we need to tolerate each other? Why can’t we love each other as Jesus instructed us to do? He wasn’t making a flippant suggestion. When asked what the greatest commandment was, His audience was looking for “the most important rule(s) to follow, the ones that make the biggest difference, the ones that mean the most to God, the ones that had no bending room or compromising. Jesus didn’t quibble over the numbers and randomly pick, “…oh, I think number seven is pretty important, but so is number three…” while considering the original Ten Commandments. We read: “Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” – Matthew 22:34-39 (NIV)

If we don’t get that command, none of the others really matter. (1 Corinthians 13) If we can’t love like Jesus loves, we don’t have Him in our hearts. 1 John 4:20 expounds; “Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.” (NIV)  These are some very strong words!

Those words are even harder when we put them in the context that love is not shown through mere words; but in our actions.

I challenge us to contemplate our actions. Perhaps even try looking at our actions through someone else’s eyes. Are we often judgmental and critical? Or can we honestly reflect on a loving, forgiving nature that mirrors God’s?

Some heartfelt repentance and asking direction from God will get us back on track, quickly.

“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” – Romans 8:1-2 (KJV)

  

(picture from hdwallpapers.com)