Diamonds, Pearls and Butterflies

Our guest preacher at church this morning talked about diamonds, pearls and butterflies.  Each one didn't start off as much, but through a process each developed into something beautiful.

When a diamond is discovered in nature it isn't that pretty. Even after all the heat and pressure it takes to form a diamond it still has to be cut and faceted to bring out its true beauty. It's a PROCESS.

A pearl is formed when something irritating enters the clam's shell.  It deposits a substance to help ease the irritation, thus forming a pearl.  It's a PROCESS.

A butterfly starts out as a fat, squirmy catterpillar that has to wrap itself up and shut itself away while it transforms.  Before the cocoon stage it eats as much as it can, because the transformation takes a while.  It's a PROCESS.

Change rarely happens overnight.  We often want God to change our situation, not realizing He wants to use our situation to change our spirits.  Diamonds aren't destroyed because of heat and pressure, they are strong because of it.  Pearls glow because of layers of nacre laid down over time, beautiful butterfly wings emerge from a crusty cocoon.  It's a PROCESS.

Trust the process.  You can't have what you want overnight.  And that's okay.  Let God use the process to strengthen you.  Beauty comes out of the struggle. Promise... 

Writing My Way to Clearer Thinking

Years ago, when I was very uncertain about where my Life was heading, I used to write in a journal.  Day after day, I would pour my feelings out on its pages and very slowly, but very surely, I began to have greater clarity in my mind and peace in my heart.  There's something about putting thoughts on paper that makes things very clear to me.

A few months ago I found those journals and in reading a few of the pages I saw how far I have come.  I went from a state of utter confusion to a state of complete confidence.  What I realized was that I was most confused when I was led by my own confused mind (but yet I blamed others for confusing me).  It's like I was driving without a map, going nowhere fast.  The Bible encourages us to renew our minds and focus on God, to cast our cares on Him and not worry.  It was by surrendering my worries and fears to God that I increased my confidence and decreased my confusion.  There is a lot I still don't understand, but that doesn't decrease my faith.

I started writing again a few days ago, but the tone has changed.  I question less where my Life is going and affirm more of what I know God has purposed for me.  This process took y-e-a-r-s!  I didn't just wake up one morning and have it all figured out.  I still don't have it all figured out.  What I realized is that I don't have to.  Many of the battles I had been fighting (and losing) weren't mine to fight in the first place. I stopped operating in my own strength and I learned to lean on God, let Him lead me and let Him fight on my behalf.  It's an awesome feeling to know that the One defending me is One who cannot lose!

It may sound silly but I encourage you to take some time and write.  Write your feelings, your thoughts, your dreams and goals.  Get things on paper and see them clearly.  Sometimes there's just too much going on in our heads and it's a helpful release to write it down. It's hard to "read" yourself when you are in the middle of a difficult time, but writing your thoughts down can bring clarity and peace, and direction.

Remember that you have not been given a spirit of fear, but of power and love and a sound mind. If you want your Life right, get your mind right.  If you want your mind right, Get your thoughts right.

I Can Do All Things

What would you do if you believed nothing could stop you?

I'll give you a minute to think about it...

Listen; the only thing you can't do is the thing you believe you can't do.  Nothing can stop you from achieveing a goal.  Nothing except you, that is.  It isn't the obstacle that stops you, it's what you do with it.  Do you stare at it? Do you give up and walk the other way?  Or do you find a way to get on the other side of it?  Climb it. Walk around it. Fly over it.  But don't let it stop you in your tracks.  What's the point of being on a path and not getting to your destination?

Most of the excuses we make are just that - excuses.

Do it.  You can.

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

ALL THINGS.

Guard Your House!

Yesterday's sermon text was Mark 3:27 (Contemporary English Version).  I had to share what I got from this message:

"How can anyone break into the house of a strong man and steal his things, unless he first ties up the strong man?  Then he can take everything."

How often have you let yourself get tied up by the opinions of others about you?  How often have you been tied up by limiting your potential because you were too scared to do something new?  How often have you been tied up because you didn't have the faith to ask God for direction and guidance and you tried to do things in your own strength, only to end up more entangled in the mess you created?

We do it all the time.  We rob ourselves and allow ourselves to be robbed.  This is a strong man's house we are talking about.  There's a reason we have to be tied up for things to be stolen from us.  If we weren't tied up we would defend what is rightfully ours.  It's because we are strong that we would have to be tied up.  Had it been a weak man's house the robber could just walk in and take what he wanted because he wouldn't see the weak man as a threat.

People can only steal from us if they break in, we let them in or we let our guard down.

We need to recognize our strength and we need to  have a defensive mindset.  The devil is roaming around like a raging lion, seeking whom he may devour.  He wants to bind you and keep you down so he can rob you of every good thing God has given you and of what He has in store.  But in the same way that he wants to tie you up, understand that through Christ you have the strength to do all things - including tying up the robbers in your life!  That includes the devil himself and anything or anyone he uses to keep you bound.

The lyrics of one of my favorite songs says that "there is power in the name of Jesus to break every chain."  If you feel like you're tied up in chains, the key to your release is your faith and your willingness to call on One who can deliver you. You don't have to sit there, struggling to break free, watching all you have be taken from you and feeling powerless to stop it.

What God has set apart for you is for you.  Don't let anyone take that away.  There is a Purpose for your Life and your Gifts are tied to that Purpose. Guard your house!

What's your PIN?

Imagine this:

You say you need some money, so I give you a debit card, but I walk away without giving you the PIN.  So now you have a card that is linked to a bank account with money in it, but no way to access that money.  That's no use to you, is it?

Each one of us has a spiritual "bank account".  Held in that account are our blessings, our potential, our success, our Life's mission, our very Purpose, and so much more! Each one of us holds a spiritual debit card that we can use to access that account, but few of us can make withdrawals, because few of us know our PIN.

So how do you find out what your PIN is?  Ask The One who opened the account in your name.  Your PIN is not a code of numbers, but a code of conduct - a code of  perspective, a code of belief, a code of speech.  Your thoughts, actions and behavior towards God and other people will determine whether or not you can access your spiritual account, and how much you can withdraw.  Your PIN is a relationship - the closer you are to God, the more you are able to access.

Sure, you can work hard.  Sure you can give 100% every day and be rewarded for it.  But no effort in your own strength can match what you can do when God provides the inspiration, the motivation and the power you need to succeed.

Stop wearing yourself out!  Your Creator will provide all you need, and it will seem so much easier when you allow Him to carry you through all you do - in work, in relationships, in school - it doesn't matter what your need is.  God has an account where you can withdraw good health, love, wealth, healing, favor, mercy, peace, wisdom, joy, blessing, compassion, protection, and much, much more! 

Don't let your account just sit there.  It's there for you to use.  And as you are blessed, bless God for His Blessing.  It's a win-win!

The Plantings of The Lord

I recently bought a few plants for my home.  I asked a lot of questions, but specifically about plant size.  How big would it get?  Would I need to change the pot after a while?  Will it take over my house?  The lady informed me that some plants can grow quite large, but if you keep it in a small pot you can stunt its growth and keep it small.

In Bible Study last night the leader said we are "the plantings of God".  But where are we planted?  Because of free will we make our own choices.  God has placed a seed of potential within us but we have to be careful about the size of the pot we choose to grow in.  If a plant could choose its own pot I doubt it would choose a small one.  You don't ever have to tell a plant not to grow.  It won't grow is if its growth is restricted by lack of space to spread its roots and find more nourishment, or it's deprived of the light of the sun.  So, we too need to be deeply and widely rooted in our faith and ensure we get enough Light from the Son.

Not all plants are the same.  Some need lots of water, some thrive in shade, some in direct sunlight, some are sensitive to touch, some have thorns, some bear fruit, and some have poison. We're the same - some of us need constant encouragement, some like to be alone, some like to be in the spotlight, some are very sensitive, some lash out when people get too close, some are givers and some poison all they come in contact with.

Which type are you, and where are you planted today?  Do you have room to spread your roots and grow?  Are you firmly planted?  Like fertilizer, the Word of God causes growth - but not always the type of growth you can immediately see.  We have to grow inwardly before it's seen on the outside.  We have to grow in our thought processes, habits and even our desires.  Then the way we behave shows what is really inside us.  We cannot do what we have never thought of.  Action always comes after thought.  Be careful of the seeds you allow to be planted in your mind, your heart and your spirit.  Some seeds are lovely and bloom into beauty and some are like weeds, choking the good things that are trying to grow in our Lives.  Weed regularly, fertilize often, and give yourself room to spread your roots.

The roots of young plants can become entangled as they grow and spread out, so it's often recommended to plant seeds a certain distance apart or even in separate pots, to be transplanted later. As these seeds grow separate from each other, we too must grow separate from each other.  Your growth rate may be differrent from another and here you are with your roots bursting out of the pot you were put in, ready to be transplanted to a bigger and better pot, while another is struggling to keep a single green leaf. 

Be resilient!  I've seen trees that burst through concrete because the roots spread so much.  It had to grow, and it wasn't letting a slab of concrete get in its way.  So what more are you than a tree?  Are you letting something hard block your growth?  Push through it!

My plant is stuck where I plant it, but you have a choice.  If you aren't growing, you can change your "pot", or you can change your fertlizer.  What are you feeding yourself daily that will cause growth in your Life?  If you want the flowers and the fruit, you have to be willing to put in the work.  Do something every day that will encourage your growth - feed your spirit, read books, develop skills, learn something new, spend quality time with loved ones.  What you feed in your Life is what will grow.

The pot you are planted in is your mind, and like a plant will not grow well in a small pot, you will not grow until you open your mind to the possibility of achieving your God-given potential.  The Japanese art of Bonsai turns what would have grown into a huge tree into a table-top miniature version.  God planted the seed; what you do with it is your choice.  Do you want to be a full-sized tree, or a table-top tree?  It's your choice.

If you plant a seed this year, and you see that first little leaf pop out of the soil, by next year you should have something that is much, much bigger.  We can't look the same way this time next year.  If we do, it means we haven't grown.  Nurture yourself where you are planted.  Where there is good nourishment, push your roots deep, spread them out...

Now grow!

Delete

I woke up this morning from a dream: I typed the word "god" and wanted to capitalize the "G".  So I deleted only the small "g" and replaced it with a capital "G".  I did this a few times, and every time the small "g" would reappear on the screen.  Frustrated, I deleted the whole word and re-typed it with a capital "G".  Finally, the word stayed as I typed it. 

In getting aligned with God we can't just change one thing, we have to change everything and start over.  So just as I was changing one letter of the word and it kept changing back, so too when we change one thing in our Lives we can keep changing back to our former selves.  We have to change everything.  We have to delete our old ways and start again with a new mindset and new habits. 

The awesome thing about starting over with God is that we get a full set of instructions on how to move forward with our new Life.  We can't lose!  Don't be afraid of the delete button. It doesn't matter if you've only written one word or many chapters in your Life Story, God will write something new, something better.

"Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"  -  2 Corinthians 5:17

Go ahead.  Click "delete".

Wisdom is Wealth

I was talking just yesterday about the need for Wisdom, and was led to Proverbs 8 in my morning devotion time.  This verse stood out: "for wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her." - Proverbs 8:11

Are you chasing a dream?  It could be your dream job, a dream companion, a dream home... Whatever it is, it won't work out if we don't make wise choices. Sometimes we get just want we want, only to watch it slip through our fingers.  Unwise choices will make us mess up.  It's possible to pray for the thing but never seek the ability to manage the thing we desire.  God in His Divine Wisdom often witholds from us what He knows we will mis-use.  If we're not ready, why give us what we cannot handle in the right way?  Sometimes we feel God is cruel.  But in every situation He is wise.  A child may need to learn to write, but you don't give a pencil to a 2-week-old baby. They won't know what to do with it, so you wait until they show signs that they are ready.  Often when we hear "no" God is saying "Not yet...you aren't ready."  So get ready.  Get Wisdom.

In Proberbs 8 Wisdom is portrayed as a woman speaking, saying that she was present when the world was made.  God made everything to work in harmony.  Things that seem unrelated working together to create the universe.  He had to think of every detail.  That took Wisdom.

Wisdom isn't found in books.  It is found within our spirits when we align ourselves to God's Will.  One of my pastors defines Wisdom as the practical application of God's principles to daily Life (I'm paraphrasing).  Wisdom doesn't come with gray hair and a long beard.  It's not a shimmering purple mist that sits over our heads.  It's not for "certain" people.  It's for those who ask for and seek it out.  It comes from sitting at God's feet, paying attention to the movements of His Spirit and acting on what He deposits within us.  God downloads all the directions we need for Life.  We just have to keep the connection open.

So what happens when we get this Wisdom?  I will let her tell you: "With me are riches and honor, enduring wealth and prosperity." Proverbs 8:18  Did you hear that?  Those things come when we seek Wisdom.  It's a package deal!  But instead we seek the things and work ourselves into the ground to get them.  Wisdom will show us not only what is right for us but how to manage it well.

If we want more than we have now, we have to be more than we are now.  Challenge yourself today to find Wisdom and keep her close.  She will prove to be a good friend.

Check Your Heart

"Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it." - Proverbs 4:23

Have you ever done or said something that hurt someone and then wondered how you could have done it?  You think of yourself as a good person but your actions did not reflect the same.  You think, " That wasn't like me."  Or was it?

The truth is, we can only do and say what is in our hearts.  Proverbs 23:7 tells us that we are as we think in our hearts.  Our actions are the results of our thoughts, and it is in our thoughts that the battle for Life and death take place.

If "Life and death are in the power of the tongue" (Proverbs 18:21), we must  fiercely guard the hearts that influence what our tongues will speak.

Think of your physical heart.  Everything that enters your body affects it.  In the same way, everything that enters your spiritual "heart" affects it and will influence how it functions in a positive or negative way.  Your physical heart flows within your body, but because we are spiritual beings, or spiritual "heart" flows not only within us, but also to God and to those we come into contact with.  The spiritual circulatory system is much more complex than the physical, and much more delicate.  What you eat physically affects you physically, but what you eat spiritually affects everyone.

In the same way that a healthy physical heart needs certain nutrients in order to work properly, a healthy spiritual "heart" needs a steady diet of good spiritual food.  If you consistently eat an improper diet, you risk heart disease, stroke, and even death.  Diet alone can influence so much, both physically and spiritually. 

In the same way that a healthy physical heart needs to be exercised through vigorous activity, the spiritual "heart" needs to be exercised through constant prayer and meditation on spiritual things.  Keep your spiritual heart rate high!

If you want to not only survive, but thrive, check your heart.  How are you feeding your heart? Is it getting enough exercise?  Many of us are suffering from spiritual heart attacks - our spiritual hearts are failing and we are dying inside.  But God is a mighty healer, both physically and spiritually, and He can repair or replace a faulty heart.  All we have to do is check ourselves in to His Heavenly Hospital.  He also makes house calls, and all treatments have been prepaid.

Check your heart.  Your Life depends on it.

Be Good-Looking

Are you good-looking? 

Most people would look in a mirror, check themselves out and answer, "yes", but that's not what I'm talking about here.

Good-looking people are those who look for good things in Life.  They do good and expect good to surround them.  They encourage posititivy, they seek peace, they love openly and completely. They don't kill dreams, or destroy reputations.  They don't envy the success of others, but support and learn from their achievements.

Good-looking people don't ignore the bad things; they just don't dwell on them.

"Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things."  - Philippians 4:8

So, are you good-looking?

Do-over

I love to create, but I realized that there were some things in my physical and mental spaces that had to go.  They were holding me back.  Moving forward is harder if you are carring what you don't need.

I'd love to say, "push through and make things happen", but the truth is that, while there is a time for that, there is also a time when we have to stop, regroup, adjust our direction when we've gone off track, and then move forward.

Don't be afraid to start over or change your plan. Life doesn't always work out the way we want it to. You are not a failure if you've learned from your mistakes and you don't repeat them. You only fail if you give up.

If you Fail to Plan, You Plan to Fail

People often tell me I am organized, but I'm really not.  I am a huge procrastinator and I'm very forgetful.  I've tried so many planning systems over the years, from Palm Pilot to Microsoft Outlook to Franklin Covey to my smartphone, and now, my Mead spiral-bound planner I got for a few dollars at Target.  It's okay, but I recently found out about Erin Condren planners, and I want to give that system a try.  You can get more information about the planners here.  Unlike my current planner, the days are set up vertically, with a week's view on two pages, and each day is divided into three parts.  My days are broken up this way.  Morning and evening are more family time, where I am getting my family ready for the day in the morning and helping with homework and winding down in the evening.  I like the separation of the day so I can prioritize tasks.  It reminds me that I need to wrap up "me time" and get back into family mode.

With all the advances in technology, I still work best with a paper planner.  I hardly note appointments in my phone any more.  Good old pen and paper seem to work for me.  Towards the end of last year I started planning on paper again and it's reduced my stress level a lot.  I try to stay on top of managing my household (and I still forget stuff!) but I've been more successful when I wrote tasks down than when I didn't.

I just ordered my Erin Condren planner.  There's currently a 40% off sale, so you know I am thinking about this one!  

Let Them Do Their Job!

It's frustrating when someone won't do what they are supposed to do.  If you're like me, you'd probably want to get the job done so you'd do it yourself.  Sometimes that's fine, but most of the time it isn't.

Doing someone else's job distracts you from yours, wears you out and prevents the other person from ever mastering their job.  This applies to the office, the family and any other relationship.

The Bible describes the church as a body with many parts, each having a specific design and function.  If the elbow doesn't work, and you're an eye, who will do the seeing while you're trying to bend the arm?

If you want them to get it together, remind them of their responsibilities and give them the support and opportunity to function in their capacity.  If someone has fallen short in the past, give them a chance to do better.  We often don't perform because of lack of confidence, lack of encouragement or a lot of guilt. Let them know, "You can do this" - and let them know you believe it.

In our desire to do and be better, we need to help others do the same.

Stop Pushing the Stone

"Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away.
- Mark 16:2-4

There are some dead things in our Lives that need to be resurrected, but we are worried about moving the stone from the tomb where we buried them.  It could be a dream, a relationship, a talent, or our faith that has died, and we want God to move on our behalf and bring it back to Life.  But instead of believing in God's Power and leaving it in His hands, we worry, or try to move the stone in our own strength.

It is not our place to move the stone.  Stop wearing yourself out and let God do the heavy lifting in your Life (His yoke is easy and His burden is light).  If He has work for you to do, He will remove every obstacle in the way.  Don't let your own doubt or fear be one of those obstacles.  It is often us blocking our own blessings, blinded by doubt.  God can do anything if you let Him.

Stop pushing on that stone.  Step back, believe, and watch God move it.

Don't Get Bored with the Blessing

We read this verse in Bible Study last night:

"We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!”  - Numbers 11: 5-6

Imagine that.  They have "lost their appetite" for something that comes directly from God - something He provided them with every day to sustain them.  They had no food.  God gave them food, and they got bored with it.  Often God blesses us with so much and yet we get bored with what He gives.  God never gives us seconds.  He gives of His best always and it's a slap in His face when we reject his blessing by complaining.  That boredom came from ungratefulness.  Had they been more appreciative, that manna would have tasted a lot better.

God doesn't give us what we want, He gives what we need.  They didn't need leeks and cucumbers.  They didn't need meat.  They needed manna.  We want God to give us variety and excitement when what we really need is to exercise faith and obedience.  And gratitude!

The Israelites had been saved from slavery, and God was making food (manna) available to them every day.  Food they didn't have to buy or season or cook or refrigerate, but they wanted what they had before.  They actually wanted what they had when they were enslaved.  Seriously - how is that better?  How can you miss the things of the Life God saved you from?

Would you rather be a slave eating delicious food or free and getting your daily food straight from heaven?  So what if it's the same thing every day! It's a matter of perspective: What do you value more? Getting the niceties of Life (at whatever cost) or staying close to God and getting the good things he has for you daily?

Make it a point in your daily Life to give thanks to God for His blessings.  Make it a point to identify those blessings.  Sometimes we want to say a general,  "Thank you, Lord" and leave it at that, but I bet if you took the time and counted your blessings (literally - I dare you to count them), you wouldn't complain as much or take them for granted.

Never get bored with God's blessing, because He never gets bored with blessing you.

Let God be the Goal

Some people say "name it and claim it"and "write it down; make it happen".  While there's nothing wrong with having goals and dreams, God says He knows the thoughts and plans He has for me (Jeremiah 29).  I have to decide what I will pursue - my dreams or His will for my Life.  I have a Divine Purpose, and no achievement is greater to me than walking in that Purpose.  I can be a "success" and completely miss the mark spiritually. So what does it profit me to gain the whole world and lose my soul?

We're supposed to be getting money, and houses, cars and land.  We're supposed to be making progress, right?  But at what cost? To me, true success is being the best "me" that God ceated me to be.  If I do that, I make the right choices. I meet the right people.  I'm in the right places at the right times. So I don't have to worry if He's leading me.  I don't miss out on anything because my fulfillment isn't in the things I get but in The One who provides them.

Let God be your highest goal.

Feed Your Spirit

"Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart".  "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all other things will be added unto you."  A lot of us have heard these Bible verses. But let's be honest - what do we do?  We delight ourselves in the desires of our hearts and when we are not fulfilled we ask why God doesn't bless us.  We seek other things and when we can't find them we ask where God is.

Life is not about physical things.  We are spiritual beings in a physical body, so if our spirits aren't properly fed our bodies never feel satisfied.  That's why you can be rich in money and poor in spirit, unhappy, broken and sad.  That's why you can work, work, work and feel like it isn't enough.  If you're working at something to feed your desire for recognition, respect, love, money, etc., you won't ever have enough.

Feed your spirit instead.  That's where satisfaction lies.  When your spirit is fed, at peace and content, the rest falls into place.  You're more productive, you make better decisions, you relate better to others, you're just happier! This doesn't mean that you let everything else fall to the side.  Instead, it shifts your focus from yourself.  Your actions are more intentional towards pleasing your Creator and not yourself. The awesome thing is that when we get it right, no matter what the circumstance is, a calm spirit trumps chaos, and we can experience joy on good and bad days.

Feed your spirit. 

Facing Pain

I had a toothache this past Saturday night.  The kind of toothache that kept me up most of the night trying everything I could to make the pain stop - peroxide rinse, orajel, distraction, pounding the walls (like that could help) until it got so bad I had to take some strong medicine. So strong it knocked me out and I missed Church Sunday morning. 

Although the medicine made the pain go away temporarily, my filling is still broken, and until I fix it (which I will, as much as I hate the dentist) I will have to deal with pain.

When we are hurting we have to get to the root of the problem.  Distraction won't work.  Pacifying yourself won't work.  Lashing out won't work.  Sooner or later you will have to face it and fix it.  It takes courage to admit that we are in pain.  We often try hard to bear it.  We say we're strong and we show it on the outside, but on the inside it's tearing us apart.  That's no way to live. 

Pain is okay.  Pain is how we know there is something wrong.  Whether it's physical, mental, spiritual or emotional, make sure you take the necessary steps to take care of yourself and get help to fix what is hurting you.  Life isn't supposed to hurt. 

Face it and fix it.

Grow Up

These days, when I tell my 5-year old no, I get a lot of pouting and resistance.  Today, I was told I was "unfair" because I wouldn't let her have her way. 

We aren't much different when it comes to our obedience to God.  We know what we *should* do, but we try to get our own way anyway.  And we cry that Life isn't fair when we are challenged to be obedient or patient with God's way and timing (or when things don't turn out the way we thought they would).  We want what we want and we want it now.    
    
The fact is, we can't have our way all the time.  If we believe that God knows what is best for us, we have to trust that His way and His timing are best, regardless of what we think we want and when we think we want it.  A lot of the time, what we want is the last thing we need.

The Bible says that as children, we thought as children, but as adults, we put away childish things.  It's time to act like grown-ups, and that means dealing with not getting our way with grace and maturity. We need boundaries as much as we need freedom. Sometimes we need to be told "no" now, so we can get the best "yes" later.