You Are Blessed

This is it friends; another year comes to an end. Whatever you had planned for 2015 is done or not again for this year. But there is always tomorrow. You don't have to toss out the plans or the list with the stroke of the clock. In fact you can build on what you have. Finish what you started. Celebrate the progresses made and endeavor to do better next year.

Regardless of what you do, seek God. He was in the beginning and He is at the end. He doesn't have time restraints but still does as He plans in His timing. In fact we can count our blessings and be thankful for what we have been given.  

My friends if you are breathing today you have been blessed.  If you have no illness or diseases you are blessed.  If you have a home and food to eat you are blessed.  If your children are alive and well you are blessed. If your life is in the hands of the master,  Jesus the Christ, you are blessed. 

Have a happy new year everyone. Let this be the day you choose Christ as your Lord.

I don't mind waiting?

Wait and again I say wait on the Lord. This verse from David the psalmist has come to mind as I sit waiting on a word about my sister. The o.r. waiting room is not exactly plush in their furnishings or accommodations. So to say that I am lying in the lap of luxury would be quite the stretch. Still it is warm and I am seated. I was at least smart enough to pack a couple sandwiches as parking will eat up all my extra funds. And so we wait. And wait. With every medical person that enters the room we all look up hoping that we are the family member they seek to find And say "surgery complete and on to recovery".  

It has me thinking of waiting on the Lord. David wrote that and I believe it was as much for himself as it is for us today. He knew how hard it gets sometimes to be still and wait. Your flesh wants to act and the frustration is intense when there is nothing you can do. It brings to mind the lyrics of a song "I don't mind waiting" sang by Juanita Bynum.  I have sang it a time or two but I lied all the way through.

I do mind waiting. I hate waiting in lines. I hate waiting in this waiting room. I hate waiting on God to fulfill his promises. I want what I want right now.
I shocked myself just now. Do you know that as the thought surfaced I wondered why? I wanted to pretend to be a lot more patient and showing fruit of long suffering but Holy Spirit only leads you to all truth. I hate waiting. I do mind it. God help me.

Sigh. Now that that is out here is The truth.  As much as I want instant solutions and immediate fulfillment of promises I want my way even less. I don't want anything that I can do or make happen on my own. I want His best and His will to be done. I want His direction and His good gift. I want His way and not my way.

So yes I will wait. I will wait on the Lord and allow Him to strengthen my heart. I will wait on Him and pray that He will show me how to wait with courage. I will be brave in my waiting when there is nothing I can do and even when there is something. I am choosing to wait on him even though I don't like it. I will wait until I can sing the lyrics "I don't mind waiting" and have it be true and not lie.

Beloved here is the word, read and be encouraged: "wait on the Lord; be of good courage and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord." (Psalm 27:14).

I once was lost

On the eve of my sister's surgery my clan got together to offer her support. I could hear the laughter from upstairs and so I ran to join in the humor. Besides my brother had just told me about my Sis in law getting lost 5 minutes away from home.  We laughed at her lack of direction in a place that was supposed to be so familiar. Our laughter grew even louder when our mom confessed that she got lost on her way back from work taking a route she travelled on every day. She was so confused as to her where about she stopped an ambulance that was passing by her parked car. They both said they were unable to see because it was dark. Nice try ladies.

While we may laugh at their late night direction mishaps I can't help but think about how this parallels the lives of so many people. I think of all those people that are lost without Jesus. He is light but they are blinded by the darkness. The bible says the prince of this world has blinded the eyes of the unbeliever. Yet Jesus gives us sight.  He has mapped out a route for all our lives but instead we opt to go our own way. Some of us get so caught up in our own world we can't see what is right before us - Jesus.

Beloved I am here to tell you that you don't have to be lost anymore. My family members are safely home and you can be too. Home is where Jesus is and He wants to dwell on your heart. (Ask my 3year old grand-niece, she will tell you Jesus is in her heart).  When you don't know what to do or where to go, look up beyond the hills and see the help. Jesus is the way the truth and the life. Come to Him and be found.

Is your world bigger than you?

I have seen with new eyes my world.  To be truthful it was rather compressed. I kept saying my sister's world was small but no, mine was limited to just me and mine. 

Then my older sister got some news that took us to Sonnybrook Hospital.  There my eyes opened up a little more. People suffering with cancer. Young and old, black and white. This was the scene I walked into as I accompanied her to her appointment.  It was then I realized that I had no problems. What was I so worked up about in my own life?  Money? My family members? My job? What did it matter when so many people were going through life and death issues? 

I sat beside a woman who sobbed as she waited to see the doctor.  Does she know Jesus? That was my thought as I cried silently with her. Does anyone in this waiting room know Him? As their bodies are suffering and wasting away what of their souls? 

Here I am with hope and peace and joy in the presence of Holy Spirit and my eyes were on my little world?  May it never be that way again for me or for you.  May we see beyond our list and see others. That man on the street or the girl you passed by on the way, may you see them with new eyes.  

Beloved it is time that we love as Christ loves us. 

A Woman Scorned

I have heard it said maybe once or twice that there is nothing worse than a woman scorned.  She is not the woman to tangle with and woe to the one that has caused this shame.  Her heart is bruised and she does all that she can to inflict this same pain unto others.  She is beyond reason and out of control (as my brother always says).  She is desperate to prove herself right and to be somehow absolved in the process she takes. She takes revenge into her own hands.  She will not stop until her idea of justice has been dished up and served.

I have a front row seat to this woman.  She is not me, (although without Christ she was), but this young girl I have only ever met twice.  She is the ex-girlfriend but doesn't want to be.  I see her struggling in her new role. I see her trying to reconcile the betrayal that has been apart of her journey.  I see her ranting and raving.  I see her as the woman scorned.

As I think of her, I cannot help but feel sympathy.  My heart is tender towards her because I know how she feels.  My son thinks I need to be examined and thinks my loyalty is misplaced.  Yet he doesn't understand how it feels to be that woman.  He doesn't get why we cant just move past the pain and get on with life as if nothing happened.  Do you understand?

I know that almost everyone has had their heart broken by someone.  We cant love and not feel the pain that comes from relationships with imperfect people.  Just as I prayed for the young woman above I pray for you. May God pour his balm into that open wound that is open and oozing.  May you feel yourself enveloped by His arms. May you know today His unfailing love.  May you walk in forgiveness, for to do anything but is like trying to kill someone else by drinking the poison yourself.

My friend, I don't know your story but I know God.  He says vengeance is mine and I will repay.  He is more than able to help you through this period of pain and hurt.  He is able to step into the yesterday you have not quite let go and heal the past, so your future is secure.

There is a song that I wrote and it simply echoes this truth,
"God you're able to pull me through. 
And You know there's nothing I can do. 
Cause your the God of the  Impossible. 
And I trust YOU!"

Oh Woman scorned, God loves you.

The Journey

The journey.  When I heard these words I immediately asked of myself three questions. Where does it start?  Where does it end?  How do I get there?  In my mind I marinated these questions as it relates to my journey.  My life is a summation of days and months and years.  Through my physical eyes I see just what is before me. Yet, I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more. 

In the beginning God created…the verse from Genesis 1:1 formed itself in my mind and exploded this truth.  My journey and yours begins and ends with God.  The God of Genesis is the same God of Revelation who says I am coming again.  He frames our days like bookends on a shelf.  It is hard to understand but to deny it would be foolish.  God is and was and is to come and he is the author of not just our faith but our journey. 

I have learnt that my steps have been ordered by Him.  Every single one is not without His knowing.  He has in fact known me before the foundations of the world.  Jeremiah reads that before he was formed in his mother’s womb God knew him.  The journey had already began.  The journey here on earth is a continuation to a predestined end.

The truth is that we shall all see God.  Yes.  Whether you accept Him now or not, your journey will ultimately lead to the same place as mine in the end.  Jesus will see us all. None shall be left behind.  We will all be judged according to our choices in the here and now.  We will either hear depart from me I know you not or well done my good and faithful servant.

With this I bet you wonder how to be sure that you will hear the words of affirmation.  I bet you wonder how then you are to walk in this journey so that the end is good.  The way, the truth and the life is Jesus.  He says there is no other way to the Father except through Him.

Do you know Him?  Is He a part of your journey?  Are your footsteps in line with His?  Are you listening out for His orders as to where those steps should be?  I hope so my friends.  Nothing else matters.  Nothing else that you can attain will be taken with you at the end of your days, your journey’s ultimate end.  It is not too late Jesus gives us the time to repent and come in alignment with Him.  Today, is your destiny!

 

 

It's Not About You

It’s Not About You. 

These were the words of truth echoing through my mind earlier this week as I prayed.  My past came to the present, equipped with passport and bags, he came to see his son.  In case, you are lost let me re-track.  My son’s dad came to see him.  It had been umpteen years since he came to Canada to see over the 21 years of my son’s life. Actually to be precise he visited him twice.  It was a trip that was well over due.

I found out quite by accident of this trip.  I had asked my prayer team to pray that he would visit.  I felt like it was needed for both of them and I wanted nothing to stand in the way.  So we prayed.  I heard nothing from him.  I happened to inquire of my son, “did you hear from your Dad?”  “Yes.” He responded.  “Do you know if he’s coming?” “Yes.” Was his singular response yet again.  With nothing else coming forth, I took it upon myself to go directly only to discover he will be in town the very next day.  No time. Nothing else added. Like father like son, the vault of information was closed to me. They knew and had made plans. I was excluded and unaware.

 

By now, if you are anything like me, your ire would be raised. You would be saying something like “You mean to say, they couldn’t tell you anything?”  That is exactly what I said.  So I took to the altar in prayer or complaining which ever one God calls it.  He said to me, clear as the day outside, “It is NOT about you”.  He says you don’t need to be offended, because this is not about you.  God had a plan that was in place and at the center of it were two men who were broken and in need of healing.  They needed this time together more than they even knew. This was a time to pour God’s balm into old wounds that did not heal but was only covered and hidden.  It was a time to restore and repair broken bonds between a father and a son.  It was time to throw out guilt and shame; a time to love on each other and be there for one another.  For three days they ate together, shared a room, talked, drove and “hung out” with each other. No-one else was included in the majority.  God gave them a gift these last few days – he gave to each man the g of each other. 

 

It was not about me.  I took my offense and washed it away with forgiveness.  I walked away from that time with God feeling chastened and yet freed.  God was answering my prayer and he didn’t need my help to do it.  I never saw my son’s Dad at all throughout his stay here, and guess what, it was okay.  I was happy and filled with gratefulness that this was even happening. 

Friends sometimes it really has nothing to do with you.  Allow God to do what He does and leave it all to Him.