How to find your worth

 
Today I was feeling a little low and so I googled ‘do I believe I am worth more?’

You would not believe the response I got.

first answer that popped up was from ‘tiny Buddha’. Another one was from a medium; another one from positive psychology and the last one was from a fairy.

Needless to say not one thing that popped up came from a godly/Christ centered response.

I realized in a moment that our culture has no idea what self-worth is and if people like mediums and tiny Buddhas and fairies are giving us the answer, no wonder our society is starting to turn upside down. 

I was mad that I could not find the answer I was looking for… And then I realized ‘how many people who do not have Jesus are searching for the same thing?’ The answers are filled with many ways to self-help and none of them including the word of God. 

So I decided to go to the word of God.

 1 Cor. 7:23

 God paid a high price for you, so don’t be enslaved by the world

This hit me. We literally live in 2 worlds as Christians.

 1. A life in Christ - bound and covered by his blood.

2. Life in a world- filled with self.

We are constantly inundated with distractions worldviews conflicting ads. Take care of self listen to self. And everything I’m reading are words just piled on top of words on top of words- with no real fix. But there is a fix for your soul… And it’s Jesus. 

Finally - I found an article  that was about Jesus and it said the same thing others did, but it didn’t tell me how to be whole in Jesus. 

We can hear 1 million sermons but until we figure out how to apply what we hear, we just sit and wonder why there’s no change. 

The key is the word of God. But sometimes that’s the hardest thing to get into. Every time I sit down to study there is some form of distraction whether it’s my dogs barking at me or my child falling off the couch or some new alert coming on the news or the phone. Something is always vying for my attention and I am bone weary. How do people balance jobs and houses and children. How do people feel confident in who they are how do they find confidence in Christ? 

So, I began my search in the Bible. The 1 Corinthians says, ‘I was bought with a price. I do not have to be enslaved by the world.’ The point is getting to know the one who paid the ultimate price, Jesus. And God, too. Jesus died for us…and is now arisen and seated beside God. 

With the very real, dangerous and depressing world caving in around us constantly, it almost feels like we have to pick ourselves up off the ground to even go to the Word. It’s easier to sit on the couch and watch TV and veg out.

And that is the tactic of the enemy. Make the world seem easy and the Christian walk hard and boring. 

We are attacked with oppression, depression or anger. Just turn on the news for half an hour and see how many things we can all get upset about. 

The world is upsetting. 

Our only stability is Jesus. It’s not masks or vaccines, or government officials, or political parties. It is Jesus. The more inward focus people are - the more selfish they become- the more judgmental they become - the more angry they become - the more they want their way. And peace is out the window. 

Jesus promises us peace -not like the world- but the peace that passes all understanding. Here is the kicker. You have to search for it. You have to seek it. God is there but he does not force us to be puppets in this world. We are designed to have a relationship with him to walk with him to talk with him. It’s a relationship that takes time to cultivate and grow just like dating. But It is with an unseen person. However, we have his word and his people to help us learn about him.

This is a war for our hearts. It’s a battle with a clear winner and I want to be in the winning side. Not only do I want to be on the winning side, but I want to take as many people as I can with me. 

I am not the only one. 

When you search the Scriptures, you see the long-standing enemy of God. 

He was cast out of heaven with 1/3 of the Angels before Adam and Eve were walking on this earth. 

We have been in a battle since the first humans were created and will remain in one until Jesus returns. This is not for the faint of heart. This is not Kumbaya, Namaste, .

If we are truly getting closer to the return of Christ, then the battle is going to heat up daily. The battle is for our distraction. It’s to disengage us from the battle so we are not effective. If we can be distracted and anxious and angry then we are in the perfect state to keep from advancing the kingdom. 

The battle is for the souls of those who do not know Jesus.

If you were an enemy of God, what would your goal be? 

We have two choices, we can give in to oppression and anxiety. We can sit down and find 1 million ways to wash our cares away.

Or we can fight. 

Start by staying in the word of God. When we create space and time to be with God and study his word, we advance in understanding Him. We will be in a different frame of mind that is needed to be effective for the kingdom. It’s only going to be harder as we go forward. So today I pray that I choose Christ, I pray that you choose Jesus. I pray you choose to go to that place of just you and him and talk every day. This isn’t just a devotion time to check off your list. This is true warfare and we need to stay in the battle on our knees.

Realize who paid the price for us. realize how he paid the price and realize that you do not want to be enslaved to a worldview that has a cold dark distant ending.

Chose Christ.

Choose life.

It is possible to not live in oppression. Live daily with the creator and just watch his kingdom as advance.

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Guard your heart - Proverbs 14:23

Have you ever thought about that verse? What comes to mind when you think about guarding your heart?

This verse had been rattling around in my head and I could not remember anything but ‘guard your heart...’ I was thinking about all things that  come against us that are deceptive.

Daily we hear criticism, reminders of mistakes or new direction we should take. We let advertisements and songs play over and over in our minds.

There is an endless stream of tasks that need to be completed. 

There is an ever present virus that stays lurking in the backs of our mind. It creates fear and unsettlement with no end in site. 

There are unpaid bills and financial strains that pop up constantly. Wrecked cars, broken arms and doctor appointments add to this stress.

We have people who haven’t texted us back or called us back- or we forgot to text them.

There is a constant demand for or attention.

On top of this, we daily are faced with weaknesses, unholy thoughts and reminders of our lack of ‘goodness’. This can happen just by driving to Ingle’s. (Road rage..)

How on earth, do we guard our hearts?

We let thoughts, lies and paranoias creep in and now we have completed a day, once again, in a troubled, stressed and defeated tone.

Today was one of those days - I was feeling rather low when I decided to look this verse up...

What popped up with it was Phil 4:7. It said the peace of God would guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus. 

But how? Especially when the thoughts stirring in our head are full of doubt and anything but peaceful. 

Thankfully, I happened to know the verse that precedes Phil. 4:7. Philippians 4:6 says, ‘be anxious for nothing. (This verse then gives the prescription for peace...)the rest of the verse states, ‘but pray about Everything’ (emphasis mine).

Everything. Do we take every take everything to God? I know I haven’t the last few days. Typically, I truly try to give things up to him, but in my rat race lately, I haven’t. I have held on to everything- and what happened? I found myself awake at 3:39 AM worrying, doubting, thinking I wouldn’t be able to do anything right and that I was doing a pretty good job of failing. Anxiety has been creeping at the door for a while now. Even as I type these words I can feel it stirring.

The key is Jesus. We have to take our burdens to him. He says to cast our cares upon him. I literally picture myself throwing a burden. I never quite knew how to cast a care. But now, I believe he is saying it’s simple. pray about it. For example, we have a new car payment  now- when we had made the effort to get rid of a car payment. (Due to a wreck that wasn’t my fault and it totaled our car.) 

So I lay this at his feet:

'Lord, you know that we did not plan for this car payment, in fact, we had other plans for the money we were saving by not having a car payment, but here we are- in a strain again. Will you provide for us, and help my heart with the the other plans I had? Amen.'

Then we walk away from the burden. We trust that he will provide. 

The second factor to this burden equation is take captive every thought. This is another verse I have heard over and over. But how do we take it captive?

I have begun asking God to ‘flag’ things in my mind when I start going down a negative spiral. I am now asking him to help me recognize a bad thought, a worry or a lie the second that thought passes through the synapses of my brain, and to give it to him. I am not a failure. He will provide for my need.

Factor number 3 is to immediately replace the thought with scripture. Ask God to bring verses to you that combat the lies or the worries or anything else you need to take captive...

I am a chosen a royal priest hood. His mercies are new everyday.

And the final step:

Thank him for what he has already done and will do. Look to the ways he has helped before - the ways he has come through and been faithful.

Joe and I entered in a an apartment contract in New York, forgetting to take our tithe into account- and I realized we were going to be short. We both started praying about what to do- and within a few weeks God provided me with a new job that gave me a $20,000 raise from my old job... if he can do that in NYC, why couldn’t he do that here? He is faithful. 

Joe and I found ourselves praying again due to this car, and do you know what he did? Provided a job that I will be starting soon. This job was another answer to a prayer I prayed long ago. I delight to live in the house of the Lord...psalm 27:4.

He answers.

He is faithful.

We just need to go back to him. The verse that says take captive every thought comes from a passage that is telling how to tear down strong holds. 

How many thoughts hold us captive? How many of our strongholds are related to our thought pattern? 

“For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,”

‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭10:4-5‬ ‭ESV‬‬

https://www.bible.com/59/2co.10.4-5.esv

Our enemy wants us to feel defeated useless fearful and like a failure. If we walk around in a cloud of defeat, how useful are we to the kingdom of God? 

Thinking about this brought me to the conclusion of this blog... 

Guard your hearts. Do you know what the rest of this verse says?  

“Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.”

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭4:23‬ ‭NLT‬‬

https://www.bible.com/116/pro.4.23.nlt

If our hearts are full of worry fear and anxiety, guess what kind of life we lead...  a rat race: just trying to get to the next ‘appointment’ - the next bills paid. We live day to day just trying to get through. Forget the abundant life we are promised by Jesus. We don’t have time to live abundantly...(Jn.10:10)

But imagine if the thoughts of our hearts are guided by... the promises of Christ being yes and amen. (2 Cor. 1.20.)

The conclusion to this comes with a verse that had escaped me lately...

‘Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.’ Romans 12:2

What is the pattern of our world? Yes - rat race.  It’s full of anxiety and fear and judgment and condemnation. Our thoughts truly reflect the world - but if we can make a habit of replacing those thoughts with the Words of God, we can truly transform our minds. He does it for us though his word. Then we walk in a peace and a steadiness that is not of this world. (Jn 14:27) We suddenly are free to run the race He has set before us. (Heb. 12:1) We will know his will because the distractions of the world have faded. We can live for him, not our next appointment.

It is time to be kingdom minded. Not earthly minded. There is enough trouble in our world to give us a clue that he may return sooner than we think. I want to use the rest of my time bringing as many with me to heaven as I can. 

It’s time to renew our minds.

Trust God. Memorize his word. Be intentional about what goes into your heart. 

Let it be his word that you focus on.

1 Peter 2:9 ‘But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.’

Scripture references:

Psalm 27:4 ‘One thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.’

John 10:10 ‘The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.’

2 Cor. 1:20. ‘For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.’

John 14;27 ‘Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.’

Hey. (12:1) ‘Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us...’

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭12:2‬ ‭KJV‬‬

https://www.bible.com/1/isa.12.2.kjv

Be the Light

I am grateful for the many friends I have had in my life. My parents taught me to love all. My Great-grandparents came through Ellis Island when they migrated to America for a ‘better life.’ Because of this, my mother was mistreated, made fun of, had rocks thrown at her for being a ‘foreigner’ Her school told my grandfather to walk her to school through the back streets (which thankfully he refused and fought back.)

Mom loved all races and ages of others. She led others to let go of racism. She taught it - She lived it.
Gratefully, she welcomed all my friends from every background they came from. I not only had friends of many different races, but friends with different religious beliefs. My mother’s love for others brought Joe and I together. They worked at the same business together. The owners of the business practiced a religion much different than what Joe and my mom practiced and believed. I am blessed to have been taught differently. However, as we know, not everyone has been raised that way.

I do not know what it’s like to walk around with different colored skin. I don’t know the fear in that. I am sickened at the video of George Floyd and I am hurt hearing the voices of my black friends crying out.

Racism is sin. Prejudice comes in all shapes and sizes. We are living in a world where there is as much hate for different political parties as there is for any other prejudice. I believe we are all capable of looking down at someone or treating them differently because they are different.

I keep coming back to 2 Chronicles 7:14. “Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.”
‭‭2 Chronicles‬ ‭7:14‬ ‭NLT‬‬
https://www.bible.com/116/2ch.7.14.nlt

We have lived too long in a self-seeking, self-serving world that we don’t have room for Jesus because we can live comfortably without him. The problem is- the more comfortable we are - the less we need him. The less we need him, the less we seek him (and his will.) The less we need Him, the more confident we are in ourselves - and others like us. We start listening to man over God. We shape scripture to our point of view. We believe traditions and stories over the Bible. We all have a belief system enshrined in us from the way we were raised, and in a moment, society is living for itself and reckless pleasures. We lie to ourselves and repeat lies about ourselves and others. We are so glued to our own belief system that we refuse to see truth. Until we can lay our belief system down, and yield humbly to God and his word- then this cycle will repeat itself until Jesus comes back. We will keep perpetuating our views, our hatred, our rights- and we will fall. We will divide and never see this racism boat turn around.

No, we don’t understand and cannot comprehend the past and the hatred on both sides. All we can do is choose to come together and lay this at the feet of Jesus. If we can walk hand in hand laying our differences down and humbly seek Christ’s face- then we can let him form and teach the solution to this hate. There is too much hurt to erase. There are too many mistakes to make right- but if we can move forward from this moment - could we try to work together and walk forward- not only humbly listening to our God, but humbly listening to each other?

I know what I can teach my son. He has a cousin of another ethnicity and color. My cousin and her husband adopted him. We had to figure out how to explain and teach our 3 and 4-year olds that God made all of us different. Our desire is that our sons never treat others differently for being different.
I can’t however go into homes of others to teach them.

Our generation could be the one that stands up to racial intolerance by teaching through love. But we have to work together. We have to be willing to listen. We have to be willing to yield to new ideas. We have to move forward differently than the past.

My prayer is that God would heal our land- of so many things. My prayer is that people will come forward from all colors and choose to work together in this. We must lay the hate down. I know there is a program called ‘Be The Bridge’ led by Latasha Morrison.
Check it out. https://bethebridge.com/
This runs deeper than what has been happening. Only Jesus can fix it, but we need to go to him for help.

Prayer for the Church

What would God do if he had one heart sold out to him?

What would God do if he had 5? We saw what he did with 12. What would God do if we fell on our knees humbly and ask him to come revive us.

What would he do?

Do we know?

Do we want to know?

I do. I do. I have been praying so many things in my heart for years. Years. He has certainly taught me praying through and praying it out. So, I have prayed for something to happen since before I met Joe. And I think it is now. I believe ‘it’ is upon us. What is ‘it’? Well, I’m not sure the extent of everything ‘it’ is, but in my heart of hearts I have wanted to matter. I have wanted the words I say be words that lead others straight to the Father. I have wanted hearts to yield and turn to him. I have wanted to see what would happen with hearts that are free of chains and strongholds and insecurities and fears – and just allowed to run free.

I want that for you! God has had me praying about throwing off not only the sin that easily entangles – we all have those – but also throwing off the weights that hinder. One big weight is ‘what if.’ What if they don’t like me. What if they make fun of me? What if they stop being my friend? What if they are offended?

There comes a time when the will of the Lord exceeds the ‘what ifs’. What if we are about to enter the ‘end times’? What if Jesus is coming back soon? I’ve been thinking about the term living like you were dying. What if it was our last few days? Years? I know living with a deadly disease is something I do not and cannot comprehend – and this is not what I’m talking about. I am saying if we knew Jesus was coming back soon –we are healthy, full of the gifts he gave us and his holy spirit… what would we do?

I keep thinking – take a many as we can with us. Yes, there are things I would love to do – a bucket list. But I am telling you – where I stand, if he is fulling a promise he has given me for over 20 years…then I believe that promise will be worth more than anything distracting me at this time. I want revelation from God. I want to make a difference. I want lives to be transformed and I want people to find Jesus.

I am one person. I am praying. I am talking to people. I am encouraging and pouring out my heart about this.

I am pretty sure ‘this’ or ‘it’ is revival. We stand at the door of something unprecedented. We are coming out of a global catastrophe no one expected. We are seeing hints of what it could be like after the saints are taken home, and before the great tribulation. We are the ones that have a hope in this pandemic. It’s Jesus. But what about those that don’t? What about those that will be left behind?

So this is what I am wondering. What if all of this was for nothing? Did we just have a global crisis for nothing? I can not believe that. I will not believe it. What do we do with those that do not know Jesus.

IT IS UP TO US. We have the message, we have the good news. This is up to the body of Christ. So what do we do now? Billy Graham is already home.

We get on our knees and pray. God has put a revival formula in his word. He is waiting on us. Jesus told the disciples that the harvest is ripe, but the workers are few. Don’t you want to be a worker. Don’t you want to be the ones that make a revival history?

I do. I want to make history. I want to stand before my Lord as a person that took what she was given and I want to multiply it. I want to tell others. I want them to join me. And I want to harvest. I want to take them with me. When get to heaven, all these things that seem so important will wash away. We will be standing at the feet of the One. The great I Am – the Lamb of God.

Who is with me?

Who will join me in this prayer?

God. Forgive me. Forgive me distractions and living a comfortable life with out really including you in it. Forgive me for letting others be my source of you and not seeking you for myself. Forgive me for putting everything else in front of you – until I need something. God forgive me for ______________________

God. I seek your face. I seek your heart. I seek your hands to go and your understanding. I seek boldness to do what you have called me to do. I seek You. And God, I seek revival. Your word tells me I can boldly approach the throne of Grace. Your word also says that where two or more are gathered, you are there among their midst.

God we may not be standing side by side, but we are standing united asking you to forgive our people and heal our land.

With a penitent heart, we are turning from the idols of distraction and laziness and turning to you and your mission.

I believe you for this. I believe you are seeking many, many hearts turned back to you in repentance.

And when we do God – we can stand firm as one body – praying for the souls that need to come join our body. You said you so loved the world, so that is who we are praying for. We are praying for our friends, our family, our neighbors, our towns, our cities, our regions, our states, our countries, God – our world. Lord, bring them to you and lead us to them. We are the hands and feet, but you don’t need us. We are grateful that you would consider using us. Will you use us?

God will you do something big in our time? In our generation? And let it begin with me.

And who knows, maybe we have been created for ‘such a time as this?’ I don’t want to let you down.

Now to you who are able to do immeasurably more that we ask or think – hope or imagine,

We collectively pray for revival. And let it begin with us.

In your son’s name,

Amen

To all the Moms out there...

Today,

I feel the need to reach out to you moms. Times like this are just plain unnerving. And kids catch everything (I’m talking colds, the flu, etc.) … This morning I felt pulled in 5,000 directions. There were needs everywhere, Joseph was crying, the dogs were barking, I realized something I hadn’t done yesterday and all I wanted to do was clean out the dishes! After losing it on my husband who I couldn’t get a hold of because he was recording something at work, I finally sat down with God.

I finally prayed. Do you know what happened? Two things: 1. I calmed down and had true peace. 2. I realized that at this moment, my most important job is Joseph. This is when tension is higher. Joe and I both are highly involved at church, yet he is the one who is on staff. He oversees modern worship and student ministry so he has to be there. We run into this every time there is a Sunday morning or Wednesday night Joseph is sick. I hope I don’t sound like I’m complaining. I just want you all to know I understand times that you can be conflicted as a mom.

It’s hard to be at home sometimes and it’s hard to be working. I want you to know I am grateful to have Joseph beyond anything I can say. I prayed for this child most of my life and marriage. He is the miracle we waited on for years. The thing is, I did a lot of ‘things’ while waiting on this child and life is totally different with children. I am struggling. I see needs I can meet but I can’t because one of us needs to be home. I know I can take Joseph with me, but there is a virus floating around and I am becoming uncomfortable with having him out.

What I am saying – that I heard today in my time with God – is that we all can only do what we can do. We can’t put pressure on ourselves to be the hero or the answer – we just need to be obedient with what God gives us to do. And honestly, even in these crazy times, we need to minister with our gifts – when we can, how we can. Sometimes I think we try to minister in ways that aren’t what God has asked of us. Then we feel guilty when we can’t fulfill the need or don’t want to. It’s time to give ourselves a break.

First, I realized God has given me an incredible son I (and Joe) need to take care of. Wisdom is part of that call and we need to be wise. Second, God has given me a computer I can utilize to minister through writing or talking (yes – God has given me the gift of a mouth.) Third, we have two dogs, eight chickens, eleven fish and a partridge in a pear tree. We have a home.

With all of that being said - we can only do what we can do. We are in a pandemic. The most important thing for all of us is to find that time with God – even if it’s 5:00 AM or midnight. Ask him what he wants you to do today and ask for grace to do it. We all can’t do everything; But we can go to Jesus.

So – all the moms out there – give yourself grace. Sanitize, feed your children, clothe them, watch an extra movie, cuddle and walk out of the room when it’s too much to handle.

God has this. We don’t have to carry it. This is one time we can’t spread ourselves too thin. My prayer is that we all receive extra grace from God to do this. And I can’t help but wonder what’s on the other side of this virus… Revival?

2 Corinthians 12:9 English Standard Version (ESV)

9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Atrophy

So, once again in my attempts at dominating the cooking skill, I had a setback. Sunday morning, right before church, I decided to cut some of the bread I made. I didn’t use the knife I normally use. This time, I chose the big butcher knife; (The one you see in all the scary movies.) In my third slice of bread, I did what you are thinking… I sliced my left index finger right along with the bread.

After calling Joe during his Sunday morning rehearsal, and my neighbor - who came to my house with curlers in her hair (thank you Susan Brown) - we assessed the situation, greatly bandaged my finger and off to church I went.

Since the cut was so deep, and I didn’t want stitches, she wrapped my finger in gauze and white tape. Thank the Lord, this worked perfectly, and I am recovering quickly. To avoid hitting the wound over and over, I kept re-wrapping the large bandage during the week.

About the 4^th day of recovery, I decided to leave the bandage off a little longer. I bent my finger to wiggle it, and noticed it was stiff. A week later, I started wrapping my wound in just Band-Aids. This time, when bent my finger, it hurt, and didn’t want to bend to its normal range of motion. I had to work it out some to get it moving smoothly again. It actually still hurts when I bend it now.

What surprises me is that the cut is on the tip of my finger – not my joint. We bandaged my entire finger for protection, which meant I didn’t use that finger while it was wrapped – therefore, my finger quickly became stiff. I expected my cut to be sore, but not my joint.

As I was pondering this, the Lord brought an analogy to my mind. When we spend less and less time with him our spiritual life becomes stiff.  Imagine if Joe and I slowly just stopped speaking.  We could have and occasional hello or some small talk, but no real conversation. What would happen? Things would start getting awkward. We would not know the needs of the other. Our marriage would not move in the same rhythm, or direction. We would make choices oblivious to what the best choice would be together. Then, when a crisis would hit, we are suddenly scrambling to figure out what to do. I would probably be demanding. Stress would prevail. Peace would be lost. We would be left trying to figure a situation instead of working together through it.

Then it hit me. This is what we do as Christians. We may be on fire and passionate for a while, but then slowly, we find other things to fill our time. Eventually, we become so busy or tired, that our time with God takes a back seat. If a crisis hits, we are freaking and trying to know what direction to turn in and not seeking the one who knows the direction.

The Life Group lesson we studied this week asked a question. It said, ‘What is your first reaction in a trial?’ The choices included anger, worry / panic, prayer and fear. I have noticed in my years of walking with the Lord, that the times I invest in him I have more peace in day to day circumstances. When I am walking on my own, I have a lot more anxiety in daily situations.

The cure? You gotta move. When I started using my finger again, it was stiff at first, but have now noticed I can used it as I did before. Repeated used of your appendages keeps them in working order. Not using them results in stiffness, and loss of full range of motion.

I now realize that my daily walk with God consists of so much more than what to do in a trial. I am learning that the more I dive into the word the more he sustains me. Daily, he shows up to bring knowledge and learning. Not only knowledge of him, but of his will as well. I am learning to yield to smaller promptings of the holy spirit. He is helping me see that interruptions in my day are divine appointments or delays. Have you ever run into someone at a store? Have you been stuck in traffic and realized you just missed being in a wreck?

Daily investing in God is worth every ounce of effort we give it. It’s worth turning off the TV. It’s worth getting off social media for a while. It’s worth staying up late or getting up early. God calls us friends in the bible. Friends are someone you spend time with. Friends are people you spill secrets to. Friends are the ones you call up (or text) to tell them about your day.

Try God out. Instead of looking at spending time with him as a monotonous routine that you need to check off a list, look at it as an invitation. Ask him to show you great things and mighty things you do not know (Jeremiah 33:3.) Each morning, come before him, lay your requests at his feet and wait expectantly. (Psalm 5:3)

A walk with God is exciting. It’s not a one-sided venture where you line up the same requests daily, expecting answers because of your many words (Matthew 6:5-15). It’s talking. It’s listening. It’s asking for revelation and receiving it. It’s understanding his will and walking in it. It’s asking him to show you what path to take – and he does. (Psalm 25:4)

I am speaking to myself. I see where I have been with him in the past, and what little time I give him.

Go to him. Start now. Spend time talking to him. Tell him your thoughts. Ask him his thoughts.

You might just be surprised at what you hear.

The Lord is my Banner

You know, I have always wondered what ‘Jehovah Nissi’ or the ‘Lord is my Banner’ meant. I have heard it being sung; I’ve created banners at VBS that said Jehovah Nissi. I’ve even seen it on beautiful flags made for church. Webster’s says ‘Banner’ is:

1a: a piece of cloth attached by one edge to a staff and used by a leader (such as a monarch or feudal lord) as a standard. 

Upon my research of the word ‘banner’ I kept running across the word ‘standard.’ Here is the definition:

1: a conspicuous object (such as a banner) formerly carried at the top of a pole and used to mark a rallying point especially in battle or to serve as an emblem.

What stuck out to me is - a rallying point - especially in battle.

I stumbled across the definition tonight. I was looking up a scripture about a staff being held up when I saw the use of Jehovah Nissi. The Lord is our Banner. God is letting me see this in action with a beloved mentor.

We all have different people who speak into our lives. We all have people who teach us. Some people show us what not to do as well. But one thing God put in my heart early on was a love for his word. I remember sitting at camp in my teenage years (as a counselor) and reading the scripture to prepare for lessons I would teach. I didn’t quite realize how God was working in me then.

I grew up in church and have had a lot of teachers. But the one God has used most dramatically in my life is Beth Moore. I heard her speak at a conference right out of college and loved her style. A friend invited me to my first women’s Bible study, ‘A Heart like His’ by Beth Moore. God started then using her over and over to teach me the study of his word.

My biggest life change was her study ‘Believing God.’ I was a Mary Kay consultant at the time and wanted to become a director. I distinctly knew God was telling me to believe him for it; and I did. Six months later I became a director. This study taught me the importance of knowing and clinging to the word of God. I learned that God gives us specific scripture as we enter, then walk through, new seasons of life. I learned to look for the words God was saying. I learned to write down these scriptures on note cards, keep them at my side and pull them out when I doubted, or struggled, or needed a lift. I realized God was more than a Sunday school lesson. I realized he was real. He answered when I called on him. I saw his word stand in the darkest moments. What greater lesson than to learn God is who he says he is. The only way to learn this about God is by diving into his word. Knowing and understanding God’s word is knowing and understanding God. Beth Moore’s bible studies have been crucial in my journey of getting to know God through his word.

Why am I sharing this now? Because I am seeing a woman of God being needlessly attacked by fellow ‘Christians,’ calling her a heretic and other irrational things. Whether or not you prefer her style, Beth dives deep into scripture and brings out life-changing truth. I know she’s not perfect and she will tell you that. Nobody is. But when people spend their time trying to find flaws in a person of God and try to discredit them publicly, I wonder where their hearts truly are.

I am asking for you to pray for Beth Moore. She has a precious family who is also feeling the sting of this attack. I am praying that God protects her, her family and her ministry. I am asking God to close the mouths of those seeking to destroy. I would love for us to rally together and pray for this generation coming up in Christ to be a generation who puts energy into knowing the word. To spend their precious time encouraging and seeking out those who need Christ. Why are we wasting time pointing out each other’s faults, accentuating the negative? What if we instead looked for opportunities to praise people behind their backs, to catch people in the act of doing good? No wonder the church’s influence in culture and society has so sorely diminished. We don’t love. We parade around waving our morality police badges in everyone’s face.  

Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind. He then said the second is like unto it – love your neighbor as yourself. If we didn’t inherently love ourselves Jesus wouldn’t have said this. So, how do you want to be treated? How do you want to be loved? Your answer to these questions provide the blueprint to how you should love others. Trust me, I’m preaching to myself first and foremost. This convicts me.

So, where does ‘Banner’ come into play? When I was praying about this matter, as I said, I suddenly thought of Aaron holding up Moses’ arms during a battle.

Here is the story:

Exodus 17:8-16

Israel Defeats the Amalekites

⁸ While the people of Israel were still at Rephidim, the warriors of Amalek attacked them. ⁹ Moses commanded Joshua, “Choose some men to go out and fight the army of Amalek for us. Tomorrow, I will stand at the top of the hill, holding the staff of God in my hand.”

¹⁰ So Joshua did what Moses had commanded and fought the army of Amalek. Meanwhile, Moses, Aaron, and Hur climbed to the top of a nearby hill. ¹¹ As long as Moses held up the staff in his hand, the Israelites had the advantage. But whenever he dropped his hand, the Amalekites gained the advantage. ¹² Moses’ arms soon became so tired he could no longer hold them up. So Aaron and Hur found a stone for him to sit on. Then they stood on each side of Moses, holding up his hands. So his hands held steady until sunset. ¹³ As a result, Joshua overwhelmed the army of Amalek in battle.

¹⁴ After the victory, the Lord instructed Moses, “Write this down on a scroll as a permanent reminder, and read it aloud to Joshua: I will erase the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” ¹⁵ Moses built an altar there and named it Yahweh-Nissi (which means “the Lord is my banner”).¹⁶ He said, “They have raised their fist against the Lord’s throne, so now^[c] the Lord will be at war with Amalek generation after generation.”

Wow. Do you see the correlation? Moses was tiring from holding the staff so Aaron and Hur helped him with the load. When we see a fellow brother or sister in Christ suffering or going through something difficult, let’s take the time to truly pray for them. God designed us to need support, encouragement and ultimately love from each other. Just look at Jesus and his disciples.

But what struck me in this passage is Moses built an altar and named it, what? Yahweh-Nissi (the Lord is my banner.) The banner is what would be held up in battle. Sort of a way to signal what you’re fighting for. In this story, the staff Moses is holding almost represents a banner to me, and the significance is God won the battle. But he used two men coming to Moses’ aid to win the battle.

That’s amazing to me.

Let’s hold up each other in Christ, for his name’s sake and for his glory. He is the Banner. He is our standard, our emblem. Will you not only join me in praying for this sweet lady, but also join me in holding up and praying for each other? Let’s practice building up, not tearing down. None of us are perfect. God is the only judge. We need to stick to what God has commanded - go and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19-20). This is the right way to spend our time and energy. Let’s uplift this generation and teach them love, not criticize and hate.