Sunday, October 9, 2011
Monday, October 3, 2011
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Dancing in the Rain (and splashing in a few puddles along the way)!
Well, since I spoke on the topic "Dancing In The Rain" at a Spring Women's Ministry event in March, I have certainly had more than ample opportunity to put into practice what I preached! We'll talk more in detail about some specific life illustrations in very near future posts, however for now, I wanted to share with you a song that ministered to me in my personal devotional time this morning. It was very heavy on my heart that I needed to share this today. From personal experience in being compelled to share something and doing so in obedience only to hear a future report of how someone needed that particular message in that given moment, I am confident in this: that someone this morning, like me, needs to be inspired, spurred on, compelled forward, strengthened, comforted, empowered, loved, and encouraged to keep "Dancing in the Rain!"
My prayer is that you receive this song as your "umbrella" and go forth dancing in the rain remembering what you have heard me say before; that the purpose of rain is growth!! For me, I'm not at all surprised by the fiery storms that have come in my own life since I ministered to others about how to perservere through and overcome in the midst of the storms of this journey called life! I am surprised at how I have been knocked down a bit. I still declare that I will not be moved and even though the fierce winds of the storm blow, tossing the branches to and fro, even when the flood waters rise over the roof tops, I KNOW that the roots of my tree are firmly planted and rooted in fertile soil and that my house is built and stands on a solid foundation. Although some branches have been broken and a few windows have shattered, as the storm clouds have passed over, the tree of the broken branch is still rooted in fertile soil and the house of the shattered windows still stands on a solid foundation.
So I have had to run for shelter from the storm surge, raging flood waters, hurricane force winds, tornadoes that have spun from favorable storm conditions, the rumbling of thunder and the bolt of lightning. As I look back at my outline I used in my Dancing in the Rain workshop, I've had to do exactly what I told so many of you needs to be done. I've had to run and seek shelter, I've had to rest in that source of shelter, I've had to even pull back and just take refuge for a little while, I've had to examine and determine what has been broken and in need of repair from storm "damage," life has taken some twists and turns and definitely looks a little different than what I would have planned for. Some of the repairs have required different tools to be employed from my tool belt buckled firmly around my waste. Some of those tools put to use have been a crow bar, to peel back every layer and examine meticulously any weaknesses, a few nails of humility in needing to just do what needs to be done regardless of what that looks like, a vice grip holding and standing firm regardless of every outside force that would attempt to cause it to loosen its grip, and a hammer of perseverance, fighting the good fight for what is right even when the end result doesn't look like what we had hoped for.
Those repairs take time and rebuilding anything is a process, but in the end, there have been a few rescue boats deployed, many evidences of grace, mercy, protection, and the sovereign hand of God recognized, and life has to move forward. I can sit in the "darkness" of the storm clouds overhead and cry woe is me, feeling sorry for myself, blaming others, questioning, doubting or even cursing God or I can count it all joy in my suffering, not looking back but persevering forward stronger and wiser with lessons learned and shared with others. So what do I ultimately need to do? The same thing I told so many of you to do 6 months ago: put on your rain boots, grab your umbrella, and go out and splash in the puddles and dance in the rain!
What an amazing picture exists as I draft this post! I'm facing the windows of my home; it is raining outside, I can see the branches of the trees outside the windows blowing, I can hear the wind howling and some objects rattling, but I find it strange that the sun is actually brightly shining over it all! What a beautiful illustration that God is in control! I can't help but be encouraged by an amazing sense of hope, serenity, and peace, that even in the midst of a storm that is still very much overhead, everything is going to be ok. When all else fails, His Word stands true, that this is ALL for my good and His glory!!! Romans 8:28 - Grandma Daley's favorite verse!!
That is our hope! I've said it before and I'll say it again; THE PURPOSE OF RAIN IS GROWTH!! So push the play arrow on the song I've shared below, declare the lyrics with confidence over your circumstances, upload a few others to get you moving in your "dance party," don't worry about what your neighbors think, they probably need a dance party of their own, :) put on your rain boots, grab your umbrella, and go out and DABCE IN THE RAIN (and splash in a few puddles along the way)!!
My prayer is that you receive this song as your "umbrella" and go forth dancing in the rain remembering what you have heard me say before; that the purpose of rain is growth!! For me, I'm not at all surprised by the fiery storms that have come in my own life since I ministered to others about how to perservere through and overcome in the midst of the storms of this journey called life! I am surprised at how I have been knocked down a bit. I still declare that I will not be moved and even though the fierce winds of the storm blow, tossing the branches to and fro, even when the flood waters rise over the roof tops, I KNOW that the roots of my tree are firmly planted and rooted in fertile soil and that my house is built and stands on a solid foundation. Although some branches have been broken and a few windows have shattered, as the storm clouds have passed over, the tree of the broken branch is still rooted in fertile soil and the house of the shattered windows still stands on a solid foundation.
So I have had to run for shelter from the storm surge, raging flood waters, hurricane force winds, tornadoes that have spun from favorable storm conditions, the rumbling of thunder and the bolt of lightning. As I look back at my outline I used in my Dancing in the Rain workshop, I've had to do exactly what I told so many of you needs to be done. I've had to run and seek shelter, I've had to rest in that source of shelter, I've had to even pull back and just take refuge for a little while, I've had to examine and determine what has been broken and in need of repair from storm "damage," life has taken some twists and turns and definitely looks a little different than what I would have planned for. Some of the repairs have required different tools to be employed from my tool belt buckled firmly around my waste. Some of those tools put to use have been a crow bar, to peel back every layer and examine meticulously any weaknesses, a few nails of humility in needing to just do what needs to be done regardless of what that looks like, a vice grip holding and standing firm regardless of every outside force that would attempt to cause it to loosen its grip, and a hammer of perseverance, fighting the good fight for what is right even when the end result doesn't look like what we had hoped for.
Those repairs take time and rebuilding anything is a process, but in the end, there have been a few rescue boats deployed, many evidences of grace, mercy, protection, and the sovereign hand of God recognized, and life has to move forward. I can sit in the "darkness" of the storm clouds overhead and cry woe is me, feeling sorry for myself, blaming others, questioning, doubting or even cursing God or I can count it all joy in my suffering, not looking back but persevering forward stronger and wiser with lessons learned and shared with others. So what do I ultimately need to do? The same thing I told so many of you to do 6 months ago: put on your rain boots, grab your umbrella, and go out and splash in the puddles and dance in the rain!
What an amazing picture exists as I draft this post! I'm facing the windows of my home; it is raining outside, I can see the branches of the trees outside the windows blowing, I can hear the wind howling and some objects rattling, but I find it strange that the sun is actually brightly shining over it all! What a beautiful illustration that God is in control! I can't help but be encouraged by an amazing sense of hope, serenity, and peace, that even in the midst of a storm that is still very much overhead, everything is going to be ok. When all else fails, His Word stands true, that this is ALL for my good and His glory!!! Romans 8:28 - Grandma Daley's favorite verse!!
That is our hope! I've said it before and I'll say it again; THE PURPOSE OF RAIN IS GROWTH!! So push the play arrow on the song I've shared below, declare the lyrics with confidence over your circumstances, upload a few others to get you moving in your "dance party," don't worry about what your neighbors think, they probably need a dance party of their own, :) put on your rain boots, grab your umbrella, and go out and DABCE IN THE RAIN (and splash in a few puddles along the way)!!
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Walking in Victory Over Keeping Your Pants Pulled Up!! :)
As my husband ministered to a young gentleman that came to him for advice at work the other day and commented to my husband that, "he seems to have it altogether in life," Harry was prompted to ask me to blog about the fact that we do NOT have it altogether, that we have the same struggles everyone else does (and then some)! :) For example, allow me to humor you with some fine illustrations from last weekend for instance!
So we started our weekend last Friday with plans to head to the gym together when Harry returned home from work and grab an hour workout together before plans to throw some burgers on the grill and pack them up to head to the community pool for some "Fox Family Friday Fun!" *Free marriage tip while I'm at it: wives - take an interest in something that your husband enjoys doing and do it together! He needs you to be a good recreational companion!
So for the "Harry & Jenn Show," one of those things that we both enjoy that we can do together, while taking care of our physical health and appearance for one another at the same time, is working out. Since we only had about an hour to spend at the gym, Harry decided he would forego his normal pumping iron routine and work alongside me with my 45 minute full body circuit which started on the treadmill! Side note: Harry had informed me as we were changing into workout attire that the waistband on his shorts seemed to be stretched out - an important side note as you will see! Anyway, moving on, I informed him that if he was gonna be my partner, he needed to "keep up" doing everything I do (of course lifting heavier on the weights than me)! :) So as he had our 16 yr. old daughter's HOT PINK Ipod in his ears, :) I pointed to the incline on my treadmill dashboard to indicate that he needed to start hitting the UP arrow to get that baby inclined to a 15 and up to a speed of at least 3.5! :)
I promise you that unless you are so privileged as to know how facially expressive my husband is, you CANNOT even begin to appreciate the hilarity of this story! In a nutshell, since we need to move on to the other events of the weekend, as he inclined his treadmill and increased his speed (all while listening to whatever songs our 16 yr old daughter enjoys from her HOT PINK Ipod), as he looked over and observed that I was having a hard time keeping a straight face, he thought it would be funny to "show off!" So he let go of the handles on his VERY INCLINED treadmill, started singing & dancing obnoxiously to whatever "girl" song was on the PINK Ipod! Did I mention that he is tone deaf and has precisely 0 sense of rythym??!! :)
Oh yes, as you very much saw coming, as he let go of the handles and began all his "showing off," he lost his balance and as he attempted to recover with a horrified look on his expressive face, yep, you guessed it - stretched out waistband faithfully gave way and down went his shorts!!!! :)
Part 2: And moving right along to Sunday!! :)
As we're leaving Covenant Life Church (I should mention a church of about 4000 members whose kids are all very well behaved), Belle and Lola Grace indicate that they need to use the bathroom before making our commute home! They have at this point sat through all of first service and an hr & 1/2 of our Starting Point class after - in other words, they are DONE with being at church for like 4 HOURS!!
We all go in the same "family stall" where there is a chair for Belle to sit patiently and wait while Lola Grace does her business! So, Lola Grace takes her position on the throne (oh my goodness, they are gonna kill me one day when they're grown and find out I put this story on my blog) and begins to become highly sensitive in her overtired state that her sister is, "looking at her butt!" So the events that followed sort of resembled this:
Lola: "Belle, stop looking at my butt!"
Belle: "I'm not looking at your butt!"
Lola: "Mommy, Belle's looking at my butt!"
I should mention, they are upset and yelling these statements at one another from the "privacy" of our stall, while the others are all otherwise FULLY occupied!! :)
Me: (under my breath): "Belle, please stop looking at your sister's butt!" (btw...do any other moms find themselves making statements like these, "Stop looking at your sister!" "Why are you using your father's golf clubs to dig holes in the yard?!" "Alright, WHO put lipgloss on the dog??!!" "Why did you throw that tennis ball in your sister's spaghetti??!!" - all real life illustrations no less)!! :)
Lola (the strong willed child not willing to let this point go unresolved and standing up off the throne, panties down around ankles, proceeding to the door of the stall with arms crossed): "Fine, I'm not going potty until Belle gets out!"
Me: "Belle, would you please give your sister some privacy and go to the next stall?"
Belle: "This isn't fair, I'm not even looking at her butt!"
Me: "Well if niether of you are going to go potty, then I'm going to go!" So undoing my pants to proceed with my threat.....
Lola: "No, I have to go potty, really really baaaaadddd and I'm not going until Belle gets out cuz she's lookin at my butt!"
Me (starting to lose patience with this whole fiasco, grabbing Belle's hand to lead her out of the stall into the next): "Belle, you need to go in the next stall!"
Belle (becoming STIFF and LIMP as if her bottom was HOT GLUED to that chair): "Why do I have to leave, I'm not even looking at her butt!"
Me (now quite frazzled and desperate and tugging a little harder to get this hot glued child out of the chair and toss her out of the stall): "Belle, you may not argue with me and you must obey!" (while giving that mortified, loving, motherly glare-oh, come on you know which one - your mother's looked at you like that too)!! :)
Belle (over-reacting to my tug & falling to the floor): "Ouch, Mommy you hurt my arm!"
Oh, just perfect, as if this bathroom FULL of mothers and well-mannered children did not already form an impression of my parenting abilities, now they are left with the impression from my over-reacting 9 yr. old, that I'm also abusive!!
Me (finally flat out of patience and ready to fall to the floor in meltdown mode alongside my 9 yr. old, forgetting in my frazzled state of mind to button or zip my pants back up or buckle my belt and scooping up my 5 yr. old, still with panties down around ankles and walking at a desperate pace, smiling through gritted teeth at the line of women outside of the stall to the final epiphany when I proceeded into the lobby to find their father - you know how they're suddenly HIS kids when you're are at the point of turning in your resignation to motherhood letter and walking passed the multitudes of people, oh yeah, including one of the Pastor's who Harry later informed me was waiting outside for his wife who had gone in that same bathroom with their well mannered children) to Harry through gritted teeth and hair standing on end: "We need to leave right away!"
Harry (bewildered as to all that has just transpired in the ladies room: "Why, what's wrong?!"
Me (responding to his line of questioning with absolutely no patience. tolerance for submission or respect for him as a human being let alone my husband, violently handing him his crying 5 yr old, still with pants down around ankles, may I add): "This is not the time to ask questions, we need to get to the van (yes, we drive a mini-van) right away!"
Me (Walking away at a speed that clearly indicated I was not at all happy, apparently with my BELT FLAPPING IN THE WIND AS I WALKED BY ONLOOKING PASTORS AND DOOR GREETERS, husband practically chasing me out the door with melting down children, and now noticing my 16 yr. old laughing hysterically): "Brittany, don't start, this is not funny!"
Brittany (highly concerned for my future reputation): "But mom...."
Me to Brittany: "This is NOT the time!"
Brittany (the only child obeying when she clearly shouldn't have at this point and after it was fully too late and I had walked all the way across the parking lot in this, well let's just say, UNDONE condition and finally arriving at the van): "Mom, I was trying to tell you that your pants and belt are undone!!!"
Me (systemactically looking down and then bursting into tears and looking at my husband, who is still confused as to what the heck is even going on, why he is chasing his storming wife out of the church building carrying a tantruming 5 yr. old with panties down around ankles who is screaming, "I have to go potty!" and who now somehow, is at fault for this entire incident): "You had better do something about these kids!!"
So, as I'm sure those Pastors and onlookers who seemed to have it altogether were made aware that they had quite a project on their hands with this unsubmissive, disrespectful wife, who had anger management and emotional issues and no apparent control over her children, let alone control over her well let's just say, MODESTY, let me reassure you of the reality...that rather, they were likely much like me, saying to themselves, "Thank God, I'm not alone, there goes another family struggling with the SAME exact daily battles I am faced with and we are all fully prone to utter depravity without the Lord's grace and help in our lives as we submit ourselves to full dependence on Him alone!" So, be encouraged today, NONE of us have it altogether!! Isn't that good news??!! You are not alone in your battle against the flesh today to do the things you don't want to do and neglect to do the things you DO want to do! It's a race - a process, that we are ALL running at different paces, one that none of us have fully arrived at the victory ribbon, but one that we need to continue faithfully running with endurance, patience, and perseverance, never growing weary in our shortcomings, but always maintaining hope that NONE of us will ever be perfect - hence, why we ALL need a perfect Savior!!
So we started our weekend last Friday with plans to head to the gym together when Harry returned home from work and grab an hour workout together before plans to throw some burgers on the grill and pack them up to head to the community pool for some "Fox Family Friday Fun!" *Free marriage tip while I'm at it: wives - take an interest in something that your husband enjoys doing and do it together! He needs you to be a good recreational companion!
So for the "Harry & Jenn Show," one of those things that we both enjoy that we can do together, while taking care of our physical health and appearance for one another at the same time, is working out. Since we only had about an hour to spend at the gym, Harry decided he would forego his normal pumping iron routine and work alongside me with my 45 minute full body circuit which started on the treadmill! Side note: Harry had informed me as we were changing into workout attire that the waistband on his shorts seemed to be stretched out - an important side note as you will see! Anyway, moving on, I informed him that if he was gonna be my partner, he needed to "keep up" doing everything I do (of course lifting heavier on the weights than me)! :) So as he had our 16 yr. old daughter's HOT PINK Ipod in his ears, :) I pointed to the incline on my treadmill dashboard to indicate that he needed to start hitting the UP arrow to get that baby inclined to a 15 and up to a speed of at least 3.5! :)
I promise you that unless you are so privileged as to know how facially expressive my husband is, you CANNOT even begin to appreciate the hilarity of this story! In a nutshell, since we need to move on to the other events of the weekend, as he inclined his treadmill and increased his speed (all while listening to whatever songs our 16 yr old daughter enjoys from her HOT PINK Ipod), as he looked over and observed that I was having a hard time keeping a straight face, he thought it would be funny to "show off!" So he let go of the handles on his VERY INCLINED treadmill, started singing & dancing obnoxiously to whatever "girl" song was on the PINK Ipod! Did I mention that he is tone deaf and has precisely 0 sense of rythym??!! :)
Oh yes, as you very much saw coming, as he let go of the handles and began all his "showing off," he lost his balance and as he attempted to recover with a horrified look on his expressive face, yep, you guessed it - stretched out waistband faithfully gave way and down went his shorts!!!! :)
Part 2: And moving right along to Sunday!! :)
As we're leaving Covenant Life Church (I should mention a church of about 4000 members whose kids are all very well behaved), Belle and Lola Grace indicate that they need to use the bathroom before making our commute home! They have at this point sat through all of first service and an hr & 1/2 of our Starting Point class after - in other words, they are DONE with being at church for like 4 HOURS!!
We all go in the same "family stall" where there is a chair for Belle to sit patiently and wait while Lola Grace does her business! So, Lola Grace takes her position on the throne (oh my goodness, they are gonna kill me one day when they're grown and find out I put this story on my blog) and begins to become highly sensitive in her overtired state that her sister is, "looking at her butt!" So the events that followed sort of resembled this:
Lola: "Belle, stop looking at my butt!"
Belle: "I'm not looking at your butt!"
Lola: "Mommy, Belle's looking at my butt!"
I should mention, they are upset and yelling these statements at one another from the "privacy" of our stall, while the others are all otherwise FULLY occupied!! :)
Me: (under my breath): "Belle, please stop looking at your sister's butt!" (btw...do any other moms find themselves making statements like these, "Stop looking at your sister!" "Why are you using your father's golf clubs to dig holes in the yard?!" "Alright, WHO put lipgloss on the dog??!!" "Why did you throw that tennis ball in your sister's spaghetti??!!" - all real life illustrations no less)!! :)
Lola (the strong willed child not willing to let this point go unresolved and standing up off the throne, panties down around ankles, proceeding to the door of the stall with arms crossed): "Fine, I'm not going potty until Belle gets out!"
Me: "Belle, would you please give your sister some privacy and go to the next stall?"
Belle: "This isn't fair, I'm not even looking at her butt!"
Me: "Well if niether of you are going to go potty, then I'm going to go!" So undoing my pants to proceed with my threat.....
Lola: "No, I have to go potty, really really baaaaadddd and I'm not going until Belle gets out cuz she's lookin at my butt!"
Me (starting to lose patience with this whole fiasco, grabbing Belle's hand to lead her out of the stall into the next): "Belle, you need to go in the next stall!"
Belle (becoming STIFF and LIMP as if her bottom was HOT GLUED to that chair): "Why do I have to leave, I'm not even looking at her butt!"
Me (now quite frazzled and desperate and tugging a little harder to get this hot glued child out of the chair and toss her out of the stall): "Belle, you may not argue with me and you must obey!" (while giving that mortified, loving, motherly glare-oh, come on you know which one - your mother's looked at you like that too)!! :)
Belle (over-reacting to my tug & falling to the floor): "Ouch, Mommy you hurt my arm!"
Oh, just perfect, as if this bathroom FULL of mothers and well-mannered children did not already form an impression of my parenting abilities, now they are left with the impression from my over-reacting 9 yr. old, that I'm also abusive!!
Me (finally flat out of patience and ready to fall to the floor in meltdown mode alongside my 9 yr. old, forgetting in my frazzled state of mind to button or zip my pants back up or buckle my belt and scooping up my 5 yr. old, still with panties down around ankles and walking at a desperate pace, smiling through gritted teeth at the line of women outside of the stall to the final epiphany when I proceeded into the lobby to find their father - you know how they're suddenly HIS kids when you're are at the point of turning in your resignation to motherhood letter and walking passed the multitudes of people, oh yeah, including one of the Pastor's who Harry later informed me was waiting outside for his wife who had gone in that same bathroom with their well mannered children) to Harry through gritted teeth and hair standing on end: "We need to leave right away!"
Harry (bewildered as to all that has just transpired in the ladies room: "Why, what's wrong?!"
Me (responding to his line of questioning with absolutely no patience. tolerance for submission or respect for him as a human being let alone my husband, violently handing him his crying 5 yr old, still with pants down around ankles, may I add): "This is not the time to ask questions, we need to get to the van (yes, we drive a mini-van) right away!"
Me (Walking away at a speed that clearly indicated I was not at all happy, apparently with my BELT FLAPPING IN THE WIND AS I WALKED BY ONLOOKING PASTORS AND DOOR GREETERS, husband practically chasing me out the door with melting down children, and now noticing my 16 yr. old laughing hysterically): "Brittany, don't start, this is not funny!"
Brittany (highly concerned for my future reputation): "But mom...."
Me to Brittany: "This is NOT the time!"
Brittany (the only child obeying when she clearly shouldn't have at this point and after it was fully too late and I had walked all the way across the parking lot in this, well let's just say, UNDONE condition and finally arriving at the van): "Mom, I was trying to tell you that your pants and belt are undone!!!"
Me (systemactically looking down and then bursting into tears and looking at my husband, who is still confused as to what the heck is even going on, why he is chasing his storming wife out of the church building carrying a tantruming 5 yr. old with panties down around ankles who is screaming, "I have to go potty!" and who now somehow, is at fault for this entire incident): "You had better do something about these kids!!"
So, as I'm sure those Pastors and onlookers who seemed to have it altogether were made aware that they had quite a project on their hands with this unsubmissive, disrespectful wife, who had anger management and emotional issues and no apparent control over her children, let alone control over her well let's just say, MODESTY, let me reassure you of the reality...that rather, they were likely much like me, saying to themselves, "Thank God, I'm not alone, there goes another family struggling with the SAME exact daily battles I am faced with and we are all fully prone to utter depravity without the Lord's grace and help in our lives as we submit ourselves to full dependence on Him alone!" So, be encouraged today, NONE of us have it altogether!! Isn't that good news??!! You are not alone in your battle against the flesh today to do the things you don't want to do and neglect to do the things you DO want to do! It's a race - a process, that we are ALL running at different paces, one that none of us have fully arrived at the victory ribbon, but one that we need to continue faithfully running with endurance, patience, and perseverance, never growing weary in our shortcomings, but always maintaining hope that NONE of us will ever be perfect - hence, why we ALL need a perfect Savior!!
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Walking in Victory Over Temptations and Trials!
From my personal devotional time this morning, my hope and prayer for you is that God used this to not only encourage me today, but to encourage all of YOU today!
Temptation and testing (or a trial) are two sides of the same coin.
We learn this in Matthew 4:1 and the entire book of Job.
In seasons of temptation and trial, it is easy to grow weary and discouraged. Our emotions can be all over the place. If you're anything like me, you can experience every emotion common to man in 1 minute flat! :) We can't rely on our emotions! I'm not suggesting that we should ignore our emotions. We need to tune in to them, identify them, feel them, acknowledge them, etc., because emotions are God given in how He created us, and often it's important to allow ourselves permission to "feel" them because doing so can very much be part of the process in what He is ultimately trying to grow you in.
As the Laura Story song, "Blessings," that I posted last week says, (don't know if this is word for word, but the general gist of what I'm trying to convey): "What if your blessings come through raindrops? What if your healing comes through tears? What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know your here? What if trials of this life, are like mercies in disguise?"
My point is that experiencing those "tears," "sleepless nights," "trials," and even our emotions is all part of the process that our faithful, loving father is trying to accomplish in each of our lives in unique ways. Where we get in trouble is when we stay trapped in those emotions and fail to take every thought or feeling captive and make it obedient to the Word of God, which is the only truth we can truly rely and base our hope on. Our feelings will ultimately fail us IF we do not take them captive, and line them up with the truth of God's perfect Word.
So let me help you out a little with what I read this morning, and although I've read it a gazillion times, it is always faithful to realign my thoughts and feelings with truth. So, let's take a walk through just the first half of James 1.
In my Bible, the subheading is "Trials and Temptations." It says (and I may not quote word for word but the content will be the same, for the sake of serving those reading that have no idea what I'm talking about)! :)
Consider it pure joy, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lackin anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you MUST believe and NOT DOUBT, because you who doubt is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is double-minded and unstable in all he does. (OUCH - that's personal)! :)
Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial, because when (I love how God's Word doesn't say if, but WHEN - that's hope) you have stood the test, you will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him.
When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; (WOW!! I don't know about you, but that's profound for me who has been guilty of accusing God)! But each one is tempted when, by his OWN sinful desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
Don't be deceived, every good and perfect gift is from above, from God, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.
So to sum it all up, how do we Walk In Victory over temptations and trials? We take every thought and emotion captive and MAKE it obedient to God's Word, the ONLY truth we can rely upon and that will NOT fail us or return void! Why should we count temptations and trials as pure JOY? Because, the testing of our faith produces perseverance! Why do we need to persevere? To mature us and make us complete - lacking nothing! What is the one who perseveres under trial? BLESSED!! If you have to print just the last paragraph of this post out or write in on an index card to keep before you on those "stormy" days, then do so! Engage in the battle! Fight back! You don't have to just sit there defeated! Just do what I do...I say things like this last paragraph to myself audibly out loud in my home, as I take my daily walk, wherever it is when my thoughtlife and emotions (exactly where the devil knows he can get to me) come under attack! I'm sure onlookers/hearers think I'm crazy, but those who know me personally KNOW that I always have myself in some sort of predictament anyway so just learn to do what I do. Laugh at yourself, make fun of yourself, etc. You'll be amazed at how effective that alone is in helping you walk in victory!! So feel free to talk to yourself and laugh all by yourself! If you're not talking to or laughing at yourself, you'll be listening to yourself! For me, the 1st choice is best!!
TEMPTATIONS AND TRIALS
Temptation and testing (or a trial) are two sides of the same coin.
Satan uses an occasion or a person to tempt us to fall;
God uses the same to try and make us stronger.
In seasons of temptation and trial, it is easy to grow weary and discouraged. Our emotions can be all over the place. If you're anything like me, you can experience every emotion common to man in 1 minute flat! :) We can't rely on our emotions! I'm not suggesting that we should ignore our emotions. We need to tune in to them, identify them, feel them, acknowledge them, etc., because emotions are God given in how He created us, and often it's important to allow ourselves permission to "feel" them because doing so can very much be part of the process in what He is ultimately trying to grow you in.
As the Laura Story song, "Blessings," that I posted last week says, (don't know if this is word for word, but the general gist of what I'm trying to convey): "What if your blessings come through raindrops? What if your healing comes through tears? What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know your here? What if trials of this life, are like mercies in disguise?"
My point is that experiencing those "tears," "sleepless nights," "trials," and even our emotions is all part of the process that our faithful, loving father is trying to accomplish in each of our lives in unique ways. Where we get in trouble is when we stay trapped in those emotions and fail to take every thought or feeling captive and make it obedient to the Word of God, which is the only truth we can truly rely and base our hope on. Our feelings will ultimately fail us IF we do not take them captive, and line them up with the truth of God's perfect Word.
So let me help you out a little with what I read this morning, and although I've read it a gazillion times, it is always faithful to realign my thoughts and feelings with truth. So, let's take a walk through just the first half of James 1.
In my Bible, the subheading is "Trials and Temptations." It says (and I may not quote word for word but the content will be the same, for the sake of serving those reading that have no idea what I'm talking about)! :)
Consider it pure joy, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lackin anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you MUST believe and NOT DOUBT, because you who doubt is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is double-minded and unstable in all he does. (OUCH - that's personal)! :)
Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial, because when (I love how God's Word doesn't say if, but WHEN - that's hope) you have stood the test, you will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him.
When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; (WOW!! I don't know about you, but that's profound for me who has been guilty of accusing God)! But each one is tempted when, by his OWN sinful desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
Don't be deceived, every good and perfect gift is from above, from God, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.
So to sum it all up, how do we Walk In Victory over temptations and trials? We take every thought and emotion captive and MAKE it obedient to God's Word, the ONLY truth we can rely upon and that will NOT fail us or return void! Why should we count temptations and trials as pure JOY? Because, the testing of our faith produces perseverance! Why do we need to persevere? To mature us and make us complete - lacking nothing! What is the one who perseveres under trial? BLESSED!! If you have to print just the last paragraph of this post out or write in on an index card to keep before you on those "stormy" days, then do so! Engage in the battle! Fight back! You don't have to just sit there defeated! Just do what I do...I say things like this last paragraph to myself audibly out loud in my home, as I take my daily walk, wherever it is when my thoughtlife and emotions (exactly where the devil knows he can get to me) come under attack! I'm sure onlookers/hearers think I'm crazy, but those who know me personally KNOW that I always have myself in some sort of predictament anyway so just learn to do what I do. Laugh at yourself, make fun of yourself, etc. You'll be amazed at how effective that alone is in helping you walk in victory!! So feel free to talk to yourself and laugh all by yourself! If you're not talking to or laughing at yourself, you'll be listening to yourself! For me, the 1st choice is best!!
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Walking In Victory - Over Trials (With a little sense of humor)! :)
See the video posted below - a cute little song I learned when I was a Chaperone at Kid's Camp last summer (not by the guy in the video, by an awesome family ministry that I would highly recommend - if I could think of their name right now - anyone? Cloverhill peeps...help me out...) Anyway, I'll get back with you on that plug but for now, a cute little song to help you "Walk In Victory," today with a little sense of humor!! :)
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