A View from the Garden

The garden view is awesome this year and I didn't have to deal with the garden hose at all...

Ohio enjoyed (survived) the Great Flood of 2015.

yeah-this is our yard...a few days ago...

and oh--this is my husbands replanted soybean field too....

 rain makes life messy sometimes...

but sometimes it produces some great flowers in a garden

and weeds...

I love flowers...I dislike weeds...

alot.

Yup...the front of the bed looks great...but as you can see they are being held up by brilliantly green and vivaciously happy 

weeds.

Which leads to the garden...that I actually MOWED today...

yeah---the riding lawn mower.

And I am a farmers wife for crying out loud...

humiliating. 

I really should have a manicured garden since that

is our family tradition.

pshaw.....not this year.

I AM MANAGING A FAILING ENDEAVOR...

(stop laughing)

Each of us have a heart that looks like my garden...

A little bit fancy...

A lot of nasty weeds...

Pleasantly productive...

Particularly  pitiful....

That's how life is.

We live in the flesh and it is messy.

Yet God still chooses to use us.

...to live in us.

I AM IN CHRIST.

and even though I am a mess...

He counted it all JOY

to go to the cross

for me

so he could bear fruit in me...

Sweet sister,

the power you have access to

brought Jesus back

from the dead!!!

He wants us to know

that YOU ARE HIS.

BLOOD BOUGHT.

SPIRIT FILLED.

SEALED.

EQUIPPED.

The down payment that tells you that you are His bride...the sealing of the Holy Spirit inside of you. 

"...I am sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise who is given as a pledge of our inheritance..." 

Ephesians 1:13-14

God gave each believer a SEAL.

A GENUINE MARK

OF AUTHENTICITY.

HIS STAMP OF APPROVAL.

Irrevocable.

He gave you the free gift of the Holy Spirit to let you know

YOU ARE HIS.

no doubts.

NO SECOND GUESSING.

Living inside of YOU...

and He will NEVER leave.

NEVER

"I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever." 

~John 14:16

Flesh and Spirit.

Painfully jumbled together as we climb upward to the high calling of being IN CHRIST.

I am thankful he doesn't look at my weedy mess and declare my

insufficiency .

I am IN CHRIST

and HE is sufficient.

I am IN CHRIST

and I am SEALED WITH...

THE HELPER.

COMFORTER AND COUNSELOR- John 14:16

TEACHER-1 Cor 2:13

LEADER- Romans 8:14

GUIDE TO TRUTH- John 16:13

GIFT GIVER- I Cor 12

COMMANDER- Acts 8:29

CONVICTOR OF MY HEART- John 16:7-11

And if the Holy Spirit is living inside of you...He will faithfully deal with the sinful weeds that are choking the life out of you.

Not because he is mad at you.

A garden can't weed itself.

It must have a caretaker.

I didn't walk out to my garden

and rant because it was full of weeds...

The garden was just doing what gardens do.

 And my sinful heart does what sinful hearts do.

I sin.

Our Perfect Caretaker pulls the weeds

and it is painful yet productive

Because

God knows that when those nasty weeds 

are gone...

you will be more aware of

of His presence! 

You will experience the glory of His goodness!

...and be overwhelmed by the grace

freely given to you IN CHRIST.

Sweet one, you are going to fall more

deeply in love with JESUS.

So press on sister to the high calling of 

KNOWING WHO YOU ARE 

IN CHRIST!!

It is a

great place to be.

..weeds and all.

Foundational Thinking

Today's headlines...you read them. HISTORIC DECISION BY THE SUPREME COURT--MONUMENTAL. Fundamental Change...Foundations are shaking. Everyone is weighing in on the issues. yak-yak--blah-blah...he said/she said.It is somewhat irritating if it weren't so important.

...and I sit and ponder what the future holds for America...for our children and our grandchildren

...and my heart simply burns with a deep ache for what lies ahead.

...and my eyes sting with tears--because marriage is at the very heart of God

...and I look around at a world of wars, chaos, evil and disease...

...and I open THE WORD...

to the beautiful book of Ephesians...

...and the heart of God speaks so softly--and sings so sweetly of His GRACE AND PEACE to me. (Eph 1:2)

...and he tells me that He chose me to be IN CHRIST before the world began...and he sees me as blameless and holy before Him. (Eph1:4)

...and He tells me that I am His Child because His will is kind  (vs5)

...and I am redeemed through His blood and forgiven lavishly by grace (vs7-8)

....and I find my position...once again...

I am in Christ.

I am IN Christ.

I AM in Christ.

I am in CHRIST.

That phrase wraps around my heart like a warm blanket. It calms the inner storms and gives me a peace that can't be taken away.

In Christ-I know who I am.

In Christ-I know who He is.

In Christ-I know where I am going.

The courts can make rules--the governments of this world can go to war--our leaders can boast and celebrate over what breaks the very heart of Our God. We save whales yet kill the unborn child....we hug trees yet hunt down Believers...they can take away our right to pray in schools and remove the manger scenes from public places. They can sterilize Holidays and History books...

but our God wins.

period.

He has the final word...

because HE IS THE WORD.

IN CHRIST. That is my position. My foundation is the person of Jesus Christ. He can't be moved-broken-sterilized-taken away-over ruled-legislated or silenced. He isn't subject to opinion or culture and won't change with the political climate.

HE WAS

HE IS 

AND HE IS TO COME.

HOW FIRM IS YOUR FOUNDATION?

Chasing...a REALLY Good God

For years I believed a big, fat  lie. I believed that God just tolerated me--that he HAD to love me because he was God...and that is what God is supposed to do.

There were years where I thought that God was just tolerating my existence until he took me home to heaven. Ya know?! Ever felt like that?

I had this silly notion that God must feel the same way about me...as I felt about me.

That my performance was totally my ticket to heaven and that was the determining factor of God's love for me...and it wasn't looking very promising...

Somewhere I went skipping down a path of works based grace.

My head knew God was good and that He loved me...but my heart felt something much, much different.

Weighed down by my messes.

STUCK.

Maybe, because I know my own junk...

just like you know yours...

and our self worth tells us that maybe we aren't worth it.

Maybe I know my own guilt...

just like you know yours...

and the past plays with the future.

Yeah-I am screwed up, too.

Maybe I know my own mess...

just like you know yours...

and our own control issues make us press the life right out of living.

*

God. is. Good.

*

Do you just know a lot of facts about the Bible or do you trust that His word is true?

*

So why is it so hard to chase a good God with abandon???...and why do I waste so much time on STUFF that is temporary??? Jennie Allen said...we try to make wind feel like concrete. We base our lives on chasing the wind. We have a place in each of us--that eternal place--that only God Himself can fill...and we try to cram all kinds of things in that spot-$,friends, stuff, religion, food, popularity only to come up more empty than before.It is a crazy train wreck.It doesn't work.

So how do I chase God????

To run this race-to pursue God with total abandon,we need to begin at the starting line

--the cross.

...SURRENDER...

Coming to our Jericho's and watching God tear down walls.

Walking in obedience because 

God. IS. Good

and His ways are good.

Running the race--

chasing God

--it is worth it.

And it starts by TRUSTING

that you are who HE says you are.

Yes..He says that you are...

not guilty anymore

not filthy anymore

I love you.

Mercy is yours.

Your not broken anymore

not captive anymore

I love you.

Mercy is yours.

If you think that God has some wrath left over for you--you don't know Jesus and you won't chase God with all your heart. You'll be like the cowering kid waiting for the next blow instead of the beloved child holding the gentle hand of your Father. 

Trusting that He has all of the messes figured out.

Knowing that He is for you.

Resting in His promises.

Leaning on the very Grace 

that He provided.

Our wrong beliefs about who God is--what Jesus has done on our behalf--and who we are as a Child of the King are the reason we don't chase God with passion!!

Our strongholds need torn down.

Our pride needs torn down.

The walls of self sufficiency

and the lies of the enemy need torn down.

And that begins when we bend our knees in prayer.

Ask.

Ask.

Ask.

God is worth chasing and He is worth laying aside the sins

that weigh us down.

As you listen to the words of this song, may mercy and forgiveness help to bend your knee before 

Grace Incarnate. 

This morning-trust who God says you are and chase Him

until you hear God singing his love over you.(Zeph. 3:17)It is a still small voice and it is beautiful sound.

My prayer for you, sweet sister, is that in learning to chase God-

you come to a greater more intimate knowledge that really-all along-He was pursuing you.

Lesson 101-Trusting without Borders...

Ok. So I am doing this 40 days of Promise challenge and thinking-HA....been checking off the scriptures on the list and thinking...not bad-this is doable! I'm wearing my bracelet and bee-bopping around the house in time to the sunshine thinking...hey!...this trust thing isn't as hard as I thought it would be. (Did you hear the clinking of the buttons popping off my shirt?! and...YEAH. God. took. care. of. that. this. week....again.)

Life. happens. and. rugs. get. pulled.out. and. bodies. fall. down... and that bracelet got some serious mileage going back and forth between each wrist as I desperately clung to scripture after scripture while God spoke assurance and grace into my situation.

I sat there 

with my spiral bound note cards

chock full of scriptures on them

...sobbing. 

w.e.e.p.i.n.g. 

Desperately wishing I could make decisions for others that could change them...desperately needing to trust God is in control. Been there? 

trust. without. borders.

trust. without. borders.

trust. without .borders.

So I heard God singing over me

...Honey...you need to 

pray. without. borders....

and so as I trust my prayers are heard...

I learn to trust The One that Answers.

So-lesson 101 in trusting without borders...

LEARNING HOW TO PRAY WITHOUT BORDERS...

As long as my trust in God is contained and controllable in my own little world- my faith is empty and powerless.

My praying 

looked more like a

 Christmas list to Santa 

than a petition to

the Creator of the Universe 

who holds

 ALL things in His hands.

wishing.

wanting.

waiting.

Instead of 

praying.

resting.

trusting.

Intercession is hard work and it isn't childrens play. Praying is the most powerful tool we have at our disposal. 

Anguishing over loved ones

over results of poor choices

over diagnosis

over broken lives & broken hearts

over dying marriages

over dying children

over distorted views

over sin in the house of God.

Praying.

Worship.

When I pray in faith-trusting that He is able to do far above what I can even imagine...I can rest.

FOR HE IS...

Lion of Judah who defends me!
The Prince of Peace who comforts the downcast!
The Great Physician who heals my wounds!
The Mighty Warrior who goes before me into battle!
The Wonderful in whom I can delight!
The Counselor who guides me!
The Creator who constantly renews me!
The Husbandman that Redeems me!
The Lamb who was slain for me!
The Son of God who is my brother and friend!
The Faithful and True!
The God that cannot lie!
The Lover of my soul!


And if He is who I am calling on...how can I not trust Him? Praise God, that He has done all these things for me. Friend, I pray that you hear God singing over you today--because He has done these things for you.

So-today-I choose to keep the bracelet on my wrist--without moving it to the other wrist...because today--I choose to pray to the one 

WHO WAS

WHO IS

AND IS TO COME 

Trusting Without Borders

I've been thinking about what God is wanting from for me in 2015. 

then I read this blog post this morning...

TRUST WITHOUT BORDERS...

and I realized that (once again) ...it isn't about me... OH-imagine that?!

"It isn't that we have a TRUTH problem; it's that we have a TRUST problem. We don't really TRUST what we know to be TRUE." ~Arabah Joy

SO WHAT'S THE PROBLEM, HERE?! 

anxiety that chokes...

fear that smothers...

pasts that don't let go...

and futures that look bleak.

depression that hangs on...

failure that keeps us down...

uncertainty that weights us down...

unhealthy life choices.

grief that overwhelms.

pain that stabs.

guilt that covers.

shame that hides us...

patterns of sin

truth.trust.

i can fill my head with all the truth...
i can stuff scriptures in my brain all day...
read all self-help articles...
chat with others about issues...
but it really boils down to one thing.

DO. I. TRUST. GOD. AT. HIS. WORD.

Do I really know it to be true in my life?

That God DOES really have things under control...

That my future is secure...

That He loves me enough that He won't let me go...

That my eternal security doesn't depend on my performance--but on Christ alone.

DO. I. TRUST. IT.

DOES. MY. LIFE. REFLECT. IT.

So-I dug out a bracelet that my kids made for me a LONG time ago...

and I'm taking the 40 day challenge. 

For the next 40 days I am going to learn how to TRUST WITHOUT BORDERS... And I am trusting that I will loose myself and find that Jesus will always be enough.

Feel free to click 

Arabah Joy's 40 promises 

read the post

print off the scripture list

and see what God is doing!

The God Question

I don't know if you read the headlines-but this week a comet made news. Scientists were able to discover sound from a comet...wow...and it was beautiful!

Birds sing.

Cattle bellow.

Cats meow.

Dogs bark.

Bugs...make bug noises...

Wolves howl.

Leaves rustle.

Brooks bubble.

Rain patters.

Lightning.

Thunder.

Wind whistles.

Waves crash.

All of the sounds in nature sing.

They sing about the One that created them.

I wonder if we had ears to hear...what would they be saying?

NOWHERE ON GOD'S PLANET IS THERE

A PLACE WHERE GOD'S VOICE

IS NOT HEARD.

HIS CREATION SHOUTS HIS PRAISES

AND GOD 
THE CREATOR 
OF THIS VAST UNIVERSE 
DESERVES OUR WORSHIP.

****

******

" The heavens declare the glory of God' and the firmament sheweth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard."  ~Psalm 19:1-3

Surrender

The summer flew by and the amount of canning/cooking and general chaos that occurs in our kitchen can be a tad much on some days. Typically, I wash my windows ever couple of months or so...but canning season just gets me behind....I am sure that they were cleaned sometime this spring... er...um...wait...it is now October?!?  

So-one morning this week I woke up after a long night of canning and stumbled out into the kitchen...and the light hit the window just right...just enough for me to get grossed out. 

Seriously?! 

If you have been in my house as a guest you can assume that I am a neat freak...if you have been in my house on a normal day--you would see a different spectacle.

So-to impress ya....

Ah, I will have a candle burning!!!! (to mask the smell from the ridiculously stinky chore jeans that are fermenting somewhere...)

The floors will be swept!!!  (to pick up the trails of cow pies, crud and general farm dirt from 3 farm boys & 2 farm girls and the 50 toes that wear dirty socks...not to mention our dear puppy Louise.)

The dust is off of the furniture!!! (it's actually NOT normal suburban dust-- but rather a protective covering of barn bedding that wafted in--because I left the windows open when they hauled manure from the barn...um...yeah.)

The dishes are done!!! (actually-they just got stuffed into the dishwasher 5 minutes before you arrived-and everything was dried on cause it sat on the counter overnight...or longer.)

The bathroom is spotless!!! (um...3 boys and a hired guy...enough said.)

I'm not joking--the struggle is real.

So it is with each one of us--the storefront looks pretty good. I am sure yours does too.

But when it comes right down to the nitty gritty--there is not a whole lot that is desirable if you look close enough.

We all do it.

We have Facebook to polish and protect an image. 

But underneath all of the smiles-all of the laughter--candles, caked on make-up and cleaning spray--all of the Sunday morning formalities-lays a broken and wounded soul that is in desperate need of 

GRACE.

GRACE. FOR. OTHERS.

GRACE. FROM. OTHERS.

GRACE. FOR. SELF.

GRACE. FROM. GOD.

My window looked fine until the morning light hit it just right...

poof. no more pretending.

...and when His light hits our hearts just right...well...poof. no. more. pretending.

What would life look like if we began the journey of

AUTHENTICITY?

Living a REAL life.

really broken--really forgiven

Clean up jobs. 

broken.

being. really. broken.

being. real. with. ourselves.

being. real. with. others.

God is working to show us where we fix our eyes on ourselves and not on HIM. Grace is a bloody yet beautiful thing.

"In Christ's death I found grace. Grace to be a sinner. Grace to not measure up. Grace for people around me to disappoint me. Grace for my kids and my husband to be human. It is important we understand the reason why we can be imperfect. We don't have to try to measure up or pretend because God rescued us from that impossible pursuit through the blood of Christ. Those of us who have been rescued by God have nothing to prove. We can call sin what it is because our sin has been paid for, cared for. We rest in who we are and what God has accomplished for us...Grace frees me from having to measure up to the impossible standard, while at the same time, grace motivates me to run from sin and obey God." 

~ Stuck by Jennie Allen (pg.25)

So where do we go from here.

I know I am broke.

I know I can't fix myself.

No matter how clean my kitchen window can get-tomorrow it will get dirty again.

No matter how many times you try to keep it together it will fall apart.

So-where do we go from here?

We embrace our brokenness--surrender it to the healing power of Jesus Christ--and watch how 

GRACE. SWEET GRACE. transforms.

WE GO TO THE CROSS...COMPLETELY.

Instead of striving for perfection in our lives..

ah-resting in HIS perfection in my place.

Instead of pursuing the illusive golden key to happiness...

ah-be filled with HIS JOY.

Instead of complaining about my circumstances...

ah-praise HIM for my blessings

Instead of striving for the good life...

ah-sweet surrender to the One who gives eternal life.

Living a wounded life is no life at all.

Surrendering produces 

 rest- peace- joy-

FREEDOM

that you have needed

for oh-so-long

--the shame 

--the depression

--the hurt

--the anger

--the relationships

--the pride

--the fear

--the loneliness

--the discontentment

--the loss

--the sadness

--the future

lay them down

for something far better.

Grace.

Grace is a Person.

Jesus.

In surrendering-you will find that Jesus Christ is more than enough to heal the wounds.

Somehow surrender works a lot like Windex. I washed my kitchen window...and today-I can see more clearly. I get a bigger picture...and I get changed. 

May God fill you with HIS GRACE as you come before Him with your broken places...completely.