A Good and Perfect Gift

In November of this year, a friend and I were having coffee and she related to me a fantastic symbol for the Holy Spirit. She described how we have been pledged to Jesus and are His bride; however, the marriage isn't until Revelation. In the meantime, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to be our seal and live in us. He is our "engagement ring". This comparison of the Holy Spirit with an engagement ring spoke to my heart.

After she left, I thanked God for sending the Holy Spirit to me to be my "engagement ring". I began praying for a physical ring to wear on my right hand to remind me of the Holy Spirit in me. I began to pray for a blue sapphire ring which would remind me of my heavenly home. One of my journal entries from the beginning of December reads, "Lord, please provide a blue sapphire ring to remind me that your Holy Spirit is dwelling in me. He is my seal. He is my 'engagement ring' He is the promise of You in me. I wait for your provision."

So during the Christmas season, I looked around at sapphire rings and prayed that God would provide for me to purchase one. On Christmas Eve, we went to my mother's house and ate a wonderful meal and opened gifts. All the while I was still praying for a sapphire ring with each rip of wrapping paper. The last gift was given to me to open and what did I find inside but a blue sapphire ring! Along with this beautiful ring was a beautiful letter from my mother explaining why she chose to give me a sapphire ring.

 The Lord is good. He heard my prayers for a ring to remind me of Him and gave a good and perfect ring to me--all the more sweet by the lovely letter from my mom.

Not only is this ring a symbol of the Holy Spirit living in me but it has also become a symbol of prayer. God hears our prayers and gives us gentle kisses (such as my sapphire ring) to remind us that He is living and does hear our prayers. 

Meditative Ponderings

God and I have been talking over the topic of prosperity--specifically financial blessings. I know that we can be prosperous in many different areas including the tangible and the intangible. However, my talks with God have seemed to be about  money in the Church lately. Here's a series of questions that have been lobbed back and forth in my quiet time:

Me: Why do we (the Church--Body of Christ in U.S.) pray for prosperity?

Me: Why do we assume You will bless us financially?

Still Small Voice: Why do you expect your own storehouse to be continually full? My storehouse is always
                           full and it is for the greater Body not just one part or one person.

Still Small Voice: When I bless you with finances will you give them to the parts of the Body that need it or
                          will you keep it for yourself?

Still Small Voice: Do you love Me or the good gifts I give?

Still Small Voice: If you don't have money, does that mean you aren't loved by Me?

Me: Why do we feel we have a "right" to money?

Me: How much of this "right" comes from the culture we live in and not from where we hold our citizenship?

Still Small Voice: Why do you make a claim of entitlement on something that is a gift from me
                           to you? There is no need to demand a gift. It is given when I give it--be content and have
                           patience. Remember the lilies of the valley and the birds of the air. Rest in Me, I will
                           provide.

Spiritual Direction

Our dreams for our lives don't matter in comparison to what His dream is for us. That is where we find contentment. In His plan for our life is where we find our purpose and joy. "For I know the plans I have for you..."(Jeremiah 29:11) He has created you with certain strengths, certain weaknesses. He has placed a plan in your heart. Once you cut through all the flesh (desires of Self) you will see what His plan is for you. The more you pray for Him to lead your life the more you will gravitate towards what He has purposed for you--His will (plan) for your life.

Sit with Him today. Ask Him to show you the plan He has for you. What direction does He want you to go? Then be silent. Wait on the Lord. He may not answer right away. This may be an ongoing question you ask. Make sure to allow space to in you prayer life to sit quietly before the Throne giving God time to respond. You will begin to hear Him speak to you.

Here's a little peek into what I have been dialoguing with God about for awhile now. We have been discussing the concept of Spiritual Direction also called Spiritual Formation. I was first introduced to Spiritual Direction  through a book entitled, Spiritual Formation: Following the Movements of the Spirit by noted author, speaker, teacher, Henri Nouwen. I remember the day I met this book like it was yesterday. I was at the public library scanning the books on the shelf in the Christian non-fiction section when this one jumped off the shelf and into my hands! Noooo...that's not what happened. Books can't jump. Silly me!

Seriously, I saw the title and thought, like any conservative evangelical Christian, "What is Spiritual Formation?" and "Is this New Age?" My curiosity got the best of me and I started flipping through it which led to a voracious read through the first chapter while standing in that row of books. I couldn't put it down. Here someone was putting to paper what I had been longing for. I checked it out and read it a couple times in the 2 weeks we had together.

At that time, my ears became sensitive to those 2 little words and the Holy Spirit began teaching me about Spiritual Direction. I learned that this practice is common in Catholic, Mennonite, Methodist, Lutheran, and Presbyterian circles. However, it is just now inching its way into Evangelical Christianity. Although it is practiced outside of Christianity by several other religions it isn't New Age when fixed on the Author and Perfecter of our Faith and led by the Holy Spirit. Like anything else in the world, what God has created, the enemy has the ability to twist and warp it in such a way that the focus is taken off of Jesus Christ and onto Self.

For the last couple years, I have been praying, pleading, begging God for the opportunity to be trained as a Spiritual Director. I still have never experienced spiritual direction but I want to so badly! I have looked into a few programs for certification as well as a few master's degree options and just haven't sensed God releasing me to pursue it yet. So, I keep praying.

Memory Lane

We all are hardwired with memory both short and long term. The short term memory is great for jotting down information from one page to another or for any other short-lived situation. The long term memory has the ability to remember simple things from the multiplication table you learned in third grade to more weighty complex issues of the heart that happened years ago.

It’s because of our long term memory that our childhood often comes back into play whenever we smell a certain scent or hear a certain phrase being said. I relish the memories of playing dolls on the porch or roller skating in the garage. These are sweet times of childhood where I felt free to be me. I felt joy. I felt peace. Then there are the not-so-fun memories: the times when joy and peace were absent. The times when I felt alone and unloved—abandoned.

God created us with this storehouse of long term memory. He is well aware that we carry our past with us in our present and our future. Furthermore, He instructs us in His word where to rest our memories.

The word “remember” occurs 168 times in the scriptures. So what does God want us to remember—only the good ‘ole days? Surely, He doesn’t want us to remember the difficult times, the times of suffering? It must be important to Him for it to be said often. Let’s look at one together.

Deuteronomy 15:15 says, “You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you…”

Hum. This would indicate that we will remember the negative circumstances in our past BUT…there is a wonderful second part to this…we are to remember how the Lord worked. In the case of the Israelites, they were to remember how God redeemed them from slavery.

The negative is slavery. The positive is God’s redemption.

I want to encourage you when faced with hard memories that evoke hard emotions to stop and pray. Tell God about your hurt. Share with Him this memory. Then ask Him to heal it and replace it with His love. Ask Him to take the hurt out. Ask Him where you need to grant forgiveness and/or you may need to ask someone to forgive you.

Ask Him where He was during that time. Quiet your heart and listen to His still small voice. He is gentle. He is love. He is speaking. Ask Him to redeem that circumstance—that emotion. It may take a bit but eventually when your mind triggers that negative long term memory you will be left with God’s story of redemption.

There are volumes more that can be discussed when it comes to memory and what God wants us to remember and what He remembers. Yes, He is a God who remembers.

If you have a few minutes look up the word “remember” in your concordance or in blueletterbible.org and spend some time reading what the scriptures say about memory.

Extravagant Love

Yesterday, we were out of town for a soccer tourney. In between games, we headed to the mall. I took one of my daughters into the Disney store. After looking around for a few minutes, I asked the sales woman if they had any Snow White PJ's. (My daughter's birthday is in a couple days and she is in the need for PJ's--perfect combo!) Well the sales woman agrees with me and my daughter that Snow White doesn't have enough representation in the store; HOWEVER, there is a new Snow White night gown that will be on the shelves the middle of June.

She offered to take down our name and number and call us when it was available for sale. I told her that we didn't live in that town, but we would for sure be looking for it at our store. I then asked my daughter if she wanted that nightgown to be a late birthday present. After hearing me ask her this question, the sales woman asked us to follow her to the back of the store and wait for her at the door. We did. She came back with the night gown and said she didn't know if they would have these at other stores or not.

She called her boss back and asked if they could sell it to us anyway since my daughter's birthday is this next week and all. The store manager agreed and all 4 of us walked to the register super excited. When we got to the register, the store manager made a birthday button for my daughter and gave her a cardboard birthday crown. After the evening shower, the nightgown went on and the squeals commenced until bedtime. She was so happy, she was almost crying.

You know what? My daughter had been extravagantly loved by the Father. God knows my daughter's heart. He knows how much she adores Snow White. He knows what will touch her heart more than anything else. Here was a treasure she wasn't even seeking. Something so wonderful and she didn't even know it existed.

We have all been given an extravagant treasure. He is called Jesus. God knew what would touch our hearts more than anything else. Jesus is our treasure we weren't even seeking. Someone wonderful and we didn't even know about Him when He was given to us. What a wonderful God to love us extravagantly by giving us His son.

Thank you Father. Your love is extravagant. Thank you for Your Son. Thank you for blessing us.

Motherhood

Lately, I have been thinking about Motherhood. Yes, I have had the joy of parenting 3 children. However, I am starting to gather that mothering can be different than parenting. I can only parent my 3 children, but I can mother many, many more. 

In Titus 2, Paul tells the older women to teach the younger women. I have been blessed by older women around me who have richly taught me what it means to be a woman after God's own heart. I have gleaned knowledge and gained wisdom from having them in my life. Likewise, I have watched my elementary age daughter teach younger girls about sharing and showing others respect.

All of a sudden, this Titus 2 passage, pertains to all of us, not just what we would picture an "older woman" to look like. We are all older than someone else. All of us are in the position to reach out to the younger woman in our community.

Maybe you will reach out to someone chronologically younger than yourself, or maybe God will direct you to reach out to a woman who is younger in the faith than you. Oh ladies, what a privilege it is to encourage and train those around us in the ways of the Lord--to impart the knowledge and wisdom we have gained along the way and to let the Holy Spirit deposit in them what He has deposited in us.

Spend this Mother's Day weekend thanking God for the women in your life that have mothered you. Pray for those who he has asked you to mother. If you are unclear who that is--pray and ask the Lord to show you someone that you could come along side and love unconditionally. Someone that you can share your life's journey.

Fast

We live with one foot in heaven and one foot on earth. We are eternal heavenly beings that happen to be wrapped in temporal earthly bodies. Fasting magnifies the difference between our souls and our flesh. We come face to face with the intense cravings our bodies have for the physical; as well as, the intense love the Saviour has for us.

During a fast our spiritual ears are turned towards heaven and the Holy Spirit's voice is clear. We have more awareness of our prayer-life. Likewise, we are in a state of denial to our bodies and the screams of desire are just as clear. The beauty of this juxtaposition is that we can discern between the two more clearly. There isn't an overlapping--a mistaking carnality for God's voice or God's voice for carnality.

What do I mean by that? Well, sometimes, we may desire something so strong in our flesh that we start believing it is what God wants for us. Then we are devastated when God doesn't move in that direction in our lives. A few years ago, I went through this very thing. I had wanted to be an attorney. It was such a drive for me and I truly believed it was what God wanted for me as well. It wasn't. I was getting ready to apply to law schools when the Lord stopped me. It was what my flesh wanted so badly that I thought for sure God wanted it for me. I thought this was my destiny. Not now it isn't. He may grant me that desire down the road, but for now--it isn't where I am to be.

Fasting is a small way to demonstrate to the Father that you are listening and you crave His words for you and His direction for your life above all the desires of this world. I want to know God intimately, so badly that I will give up anything--even food--to know Him more.

Have you ever contemplated this spiritual discipline? Prayed about it? That's exactly where you start. Fasting, or any spiritual discipline for that matter, isn't legalistic. It isn't something we do because we "should" or to look more "holy". God looks at our hearts--our motivations. Spiritual disciplines are motivated by our desire to know God deeper. They aren't motivated by any outer influence.

Spiritual disciplines are done in prayer, asking the Holy Spirit to guide us, teach us, and strengthen us. The Holy Spirit gives us the strength to go without solid food for a season. He is all wise and knows whether our bodies are ready for such an undertaking.

Take it to the Lord in prayer and He will show you when you can fast, what you shall abstain from during your fast, and when the fast is completed. Again, spiritual disciplines are Holy Spirit lead. It is a rich time of fellowship with the Holy Spirit.

 May you continue to grow in God's grace and love for you as you explore more of the spiritual disciplines.