Me, too!

 

(picture from Pinterest)

The other morning and God spoke to me so clearly; it made me cry.

I write poetry, often provoking tears in the readers, but usually touching their hearts in a special way. Though I’ve been a Christian, encouraging others for a long time now, I’ve often felt less than worthy of the blessings God pours out on me.

But through the blood of Jesus – I am MADE worthy! Hallelujah!

Someone referred to the gifts God placed inside of us. I naturally thought of poetry; my mind fluttered through the only verses I have memorized – one of my favorite poems. I was halted as I rehearsed the lines in my head with the most wonderful interruption. I’ll include the poem here for reference, I want you to know what I’m referring to:

If you picked a flower for every care in your mind,
how many different flowers do you think that you could find?
If you put them all together and made a huge bouquet,
wouldn’t it give your heart a rest to give them all away?
But, who would want these flowers that represent pains and grief?
I came to bear your burdens, Child, will you give your bouquet to Me?
- Jesus
(Helen Williams! 2002)

The interruption? As I recalled the last line, Jesus lovingly whispered to me, “Yes, that means you, too.”

To you, that might seem obvious. But to me, it felt like my brain had just been dunked into soapy bathwater and pulled out clean! Yes, of course it applies to me, too! I was so excited I cried. But knowing that in my head and knowing it in my heart are two totally different lines of reality.

I am among the redeemed.
I am made righteous by the blood of Jesus.
God doesn’t require perfection from me, He requires that I believe in Him and in His Word; the sacrificial Lamb (Jesus) Who died to pay for my sin.

(picture from 3wordwisdom)

So – why WOULDN’T the poem (and every other word of encouragement) apply to me?

God is always speaking to our hearts. Yet we seldom listen for what He has to say to us as individuals.

Several decades ago, I turned away from God. I stuck my fingers in my ears and didn’t want to hear what He was saying to me. I knew He was still God, and I knew I still wanted His protection and love and blessings, but I turned inward and became very selfish.

It wasn’t long until God once again captivated my attention and by His loving kindness drew me back to Himself. I repented of my sin and turned my heart back to Him. I hurt a lot of people through that painful detour, but God loved me still. Most of those people still love me, too.

The enemy taunted me, insisting that I was no longer worthy of God’s grace. He used truth to weave a lie.

Of course, I wasn’t worthy of God’s grace – that’s what grace is all about! It can’t be earned.

But I was no less worthy of that grace than I was the first time I submitted myself to God’s love and asked Him to reign in my heart. Herein is the message of grace: He loves us anyway.

Satan is like a roaring lion, seeking to kill, steal and destroy – our faith.
(John 10:10)

I took a stance and declared in my heart that even if God could no longer accept me as His own, I would declare His grace to others. How’s that for an oxymoron? How could I effectively share grace if I wasn’t even applying it to myself?

I was the prodigal daughter, willing to return home to be my Father’s slave, yet He wanted me to return to be His bride!

So, let’s talk about worthiness and settle the matter once and for all. In our flesh, we are not worthy of God’s grace or His love. But He chooses to love us anyway.

(picture from pinterest)

There is nothing we can do to stop His unending, unconditional love towards us. Nothing. NOTHING!

No matter how sinful we become, we are not beyond the reach of His love and forgiveness.

He is constantly reaching for us, longing for us to receive His love. When we hear a story about unrequited love, we have NO idea how deep that love can run until we look at the One Who created us, Who walks with us – Whom we don’t even know or desire intimacy with. We search, as through fancy jewelry stores, in every nook and cranny – for plastic baubles to love.

It is the goodness and kindness of God that calls us to repentance. (Romans 2:4)

Nothing can separate us from the love of God. (Romans 8:38-39)

“YES, THAT MEANS YOU, TOO!”

Ezer Standing

We’re not sitting ducks.

We face a barrage of attacks from Satan and his minions every time we try to step up to do something for God. Once we’ve established daily time in the Word, we gain the footing we need to stand against the enemy.

Pastor Mark Cowart has given us a list of seven strategies of opposition which include: ridicule, discouragement, your past, the threat of attack, internal conflict, false accusations and false prophecy. He’s taken a look at each of them – and the study is phenomenal. I wish you could all be here in Colorado Springs at Church For All Nations so you could hear it for yourself. He’s an amazing teacher with an incredible anointing. He’s also given us an acronym for getting out from underneath the attacks of the wicked one. W-O-R-D: be in the Word; be on the Offense; Replace the lies with God’s truth; and Dream again – with determination. Pretty powerful stuff!

I cannot exaggerate the importance of consistently being in God’s Word. It’s our instruction manual for life on Earth.

But we need to be on the offense, as well. It would be detrimental to sit around just waiting for the enemy’s attacks or worse yet – to believe those attacks won’t come. What enemy doesn’t just love a sitting duck?

In Ephesians 6 we find the armor God has given us for protection in battle. Sadly, too many of us try to walk into battle without protection and weaponry, and even scarier, too many of us don’t acknowledge the battle!

Dig into Ephesians chapter 6 – read it, study it and apply it! There are Bible studies available – in Christian book stores, thrift shops and even here on line. We have no excuse to walk naked into battle. We’re warriors, poised for war! Take up the offensive positions!

Ephesians 6:10-18 (NKJV) Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—

Ezer Rising VII

As the ezer rises, the only place found to stand is upon the Word of God. You cannot find sure footing in the sand, only on the Rock. Jesus is our Rock.

Exodus 33:21 (KJV) And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock

Deuteronomy 32:4 (KJV) He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he

Deuteronomy 32:18 (KJV) Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee.

Always, consistently – stay in God’s Word. Stand on His Word. There’s safety there. God’s perfect will and love will fill you and empower you – through His Word.

This morning I challenged fear, again.

Does my drinking glass fear that each time I drink from it that it will somehow fail me? Besides the obvious, that an inanimate object cannot know fear, no. If my glass falls to the floor and breaks, I dropped it. If my drink dribbles onto my blouse, I’m the one that began pouring before it reached my lips. I control my drinking glass – the vessel I purchased to use as I please. I have my favorite coffee mugs, my favorite tall glass, my favorite soup mugs – I seldom pour cola into my soup mug, but I can if I choose to – because they all belong to me.

I’m God’s vessel. He purchased me for His own good pleasure. He paid the price so that I could be useful, used by Him. I willingly yield to His control.

From an old poem of mine:

Oh, dear Lord, let me be Your pen, every now and then, write with me.
Oh, Lord, just now I pray, that You would choose today-
to speak through me again.

The power of the pen is not in the ink, but in the commitment to the paper. Until the pen is put to paper – it’s powerless.

Ezer Rising VI

So we’ve got it! We need to be in the Word every single day. If we’re a Christian, that’s our first essential. It teaches and equips us to do everything else we need to do. If you’re not a Christian, you’re fighting a losing battle. You cannot fight your way into heaven. Your name is either in the Lamb’s Book of Life, or it isn’t. That’s the easy part. Message me if you need to know more.

Now that we understand we need God’s Word daily, prepare yourself for the fact that Satan isn’t going to let that go uncontested. Whether he’s whispering in your ear about the million other things you need to do today, or your Bible is ‘conveniently’ out in the car because you took it to church last night, stand your ground. Lines like ‘I’m too sleepy’ or ‘I don’t understand what I read anyway’ are lies you’ve fallen for before that the enemy will keep using until they stop working.

Simply reading God’s Word – and allowing God to speak to you through it may be enough to get you on your feet and well on your way past discouragement. That’s not okay with Satan, either. He’s not going to give up. He wants you discouraged. He wants you doubting yourself, your salvation and your abilities to do anything for God. Without the reassurance you need from God Himself, it’s easy for Satan to lie to you and get away with it.

When are you going to stop harping on this, Helen? Well, most likely, never. Throughout our Christian walk, the temptation to make God wait on us may always be there in the backgrounds of our mind – or it may just pop up to try to sabotage us from time to time. Always, get back to the Word. If you’ve neglected it for a while now, begin again. God is the God of new beginnings.

What next? Come back for part VII….

Ezer Rising V

Okay, so some of you didn’t find yourself in the last post. You read your Bibles every single day. The angels are celebrating your commitment. I rejoice with them. What a way to seek after the heart of our Father!

This post isn’t aimed at everyone either, but to those who read the Word out of habit, like they take their vitamins every morning. I think some people even read their Bibles out of the superstitious feeling that if they don’t something will go wrong that day. So is it a good-luck charm?

Today I want to challenge you to examine your motives when you read God’s Word. Are you looking for something? That’s okay. But be ready to receive what God’s desiring to pour into you, as well. If you’re looking for a ‘word in due season’ – something to provide encouragement for your day or the answer to a question, great. But be open to the idea that God may be pointing you toward something you didn’t go there for.

When you’re looking for something you’ve misplaced, isn’t it great to find something else you thought you’d lost forever, or discover something you didn’t realize you had in the first place? God has nourishment and blessings and instructions and commands and even correction for us that we might not have been looking for when we opened our Bible covers. I love digging a purse out of the closet to discover there’s money in it I’d forgotten about. I love finding a note I’d written to myself with a nugget God gave me, refreshing me once again. But I love it best when I’m reading God’s Word and I find that He’s talking about me, that He’s written something there just for me, that I need right now. He knew I’d need it today since before I drew breath!

He’s good like that!

Look at your routine. Is it just a routine? If it is, you’re missing a lot.

Ezer Rising IV

And again, I’m reminded of the saying we hear most from Pastor Mark, ‘Satan hates it when you get into the Word, but he trembles when the Word gets into you.’ This quote made its way around our favorite network system the other day – ‘You know that when you carry the Bible, Satan gets a headache. When you open it, he collapses. When he sees you reading it he faints, and when you are about to repost this message, he will try and discourage you! One of his greatest tactics is simple discouragement!’
Surely the point is getting out; Satan does not want you reading your Bible. And on most days, if you’re honest with yourself, do you feel like you want to? Let’s examine that for a minute or two.

If you find that looking over the last week or so, you’ve missed out on reading the Word more days than you managed to make time for it, ask yourself why? Most of us know by now that we need to read it – that our spirit needs the Word like our flesh needs food. How often do we forget to eat? Yeah, we’ve all got our priorities. It might be about rearranging them.

What’s inside our heads that says it’s okay to put off reading the Bible until later, when we have more time, or convinces us that we won’t have time at all today, but that’s okay, God will understand?

Yes, God understands our busyness – and He’s not impressed with it at all.

Has Satan got us so deceived that we think its okay to go indefinitely without reading God’s Word? It’s where our spirit gets its strength to do the things God has destined us to do. So though our bodies may be (or need to be) on a diet, our spirit needs to be gorged, everyday. Without this nourishment, we’re too weak to use the other weapons in our arsenal.

Be accountable, put it in writing. Why didn’t I read my Bible yesterday?

Ezer Rising III

Discipline. Kind of sounds like a cuss word to the lazy person.

I bought the book The Art of War by Sun Tzu, a Chinese military general that lived at least 500 years before Jesus clothed Himself in flesh. In it he reveals his mind set for war. A lot of Christians don’t see the warfare we’re involved in, and most of those that do are still learning this mind set. Amidst his warfare strategies, General Tzu says: All war is deception. We need to see that spiritual warfare in particular, is built upon deception. Of all the things Pastor Mark has been teaching us lately, this resounds in my mind.

The discouragement the enemy rolls out before us like a red carpet, compelling us to ‘walk this way’ is based on deception. The ridicule he throws at us, intentionally, is steeped in deception. Every lie we fall for is intended to deceive us into thinking about our lives from any viewpoint that doesn’t line up with God’s. This is why it’s so important to investigate and search out what God says about everything. The enemy of our soul doesn’t want us to know God’s point of view, because there we will find truth; absolute truth.

You’ve heard it said: fact is stranger than fiction. Well, lies can be easier to swallow than a truth pill. If I’m sly and cunning and have access to your unguarded mind, I can hide the truth from you. And Satan has had eons of time to practice the art of deception; he’s watched and learned the vulnerable, soft spots in the human mind. He notices when we drop our guard and sees when we’ve not been taught how to guard our minds in the first place. He is merciless and is out to steal, kill and destroy – his purpose, in a nutshell.

John 10:10 (NKJV) The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I [Jesus] have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

Come back for more………………

Ezer Rising

Pastor is teaching us how to rebuild the broken places in our lives, our community and our nation.

‘Discouragement is the attempt to prevent you from doing something by raising arguments, objections or some type of expression of disapproval. That doesn’t even have to be a word, it can be a look it can be a glance, it can be a snicker, it can be a smirk.’ - Pastor Mark Cowart (Church For All Nations, Colorado Springs, Colorado)

Is this how easily we’re set back? Is this how easily the enemy can snatch our destiny from us? This is the simple ploy we don’t even recognize enough to consciously put a stop to.

It may seem petty, but it’s powerful – especially against unwary Christians who don’t recognize we’re in a battle. Pastor Mark even calls discouragement ‘the choice weapon of darkness’.

When you purpose in your heart to do things God’s way – Satan is ready to send discouragement your way. He taunts us and harasses us with snide remarks or challenges us with arguments that somehow seem plausible at the time.
In my own life, even when I’m trying to do something good for myself, not even a grand notion to advance the kingdom of God, I hear objections to overrule my plans. You want to lose how many pounds? - Ha-ha, you seriously think you’re going to exercise every day? - You know you can’t resist those Mocha Frappes.

Worse yet when I argue the case against myself! I haven’t eaten all day, one mocha won’t kill me. - I’m not failing, I’ll just get back on track tomorrow. - Well, at least I’m not as heavy as the lady in front of me.
And as if that’s not bad enough, discouragement can come in just because something doesn’t go my way. (As if the world revolves around me.)

Bells should go off when I’m siding with the enemy! When I battle in my mind over little things, certainly the devil is convinced he’s got me under his feet when I try to do something for God.

But no more! This will require biblical tactics and discipline. See you back here in a day or two…..

Indulge!

Don’t think you can save the Word for a ‘special’ occasion!
Every minute is a special occasion whether we recognize it or not.

Lately I’ve been reading The Message paraphrase of the Bible, quite simply, because it’s the version my daughter Sandee reads. Whatever I’m reading for the day in King James or NIV or whatever translation I’m reading it in becomes twice as long. How would Sandee read this? What words would her eyes fall upon? I’ve fallen in love with The Message as it makes familiar passages even more personal. As I read the words in front of me, I feel as though I’m slipping into an incredibly expensive yet warm and cozy sweater that’s been given to me as a gift. I hesitate, as if I might snag the sweater or spill something on it. Perhaps I should save it for special occasions. Yet I giggle with anticipation each time I look at it, or take it out to admire. Dare I put it on? Dare I indulge?

Well what do I think I’m waiting for? Living is for today. I recall an email that circulated a while ago about a man going through his wife’s drawers for the clothes he’d take to the mortician. He came across a beautiful camisole she’d delicately wrapped and stowed away for a special occasion that never came.

Immersing myself into God’s Word is indulgent. I’m never more elegantly arrayed. No special occasion? Every minute of every day is a special occasion that will never be lived out again. And I need to be clothed in this royal apparel. Yes, I dare!