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A Journey of Faith: Beginning with Hope

January 30, 2013 By
Beginning with Hope

“He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children. Praise the Lord!”

Psalm 113:9 ESV

I read this scripture over and over while I struggled with infertility.  I wondered what my home would consist of and who my children would be.  Would they be my own children from my own womb?  Would they be children that God engrafted into our line?  At that point I didn’t know.  I only knew that I longed for children.  You can read more of that story here.

Then almost seven years into our marriage, I gave birth to our first! Within eight years more, we would have four children.  And I would desperately seek to know HOW to be a good mother and to train them in wisdom. From scriptures to books to wise women and men God placed in my path along the way, I would gain such gems that I never could have come up with on my own.  I also daily refer to the first chapter of James and remind God that I lack wisdom and that I’m asking.  I ask on each of their behalves. I ask because I do not know.

But one thing I DO know.  I would find out just a couple of years ago that it should have been impossible for me to have children or to feed them…but with God?  Well, HE makes the impossible, possible. So if God saw that I should have children, He would give me and my Chris everything we need to raise them.

You see, God’s provision is not always about finances or food.  Sometimes, His loaves and fishes look a lot like my children. As my friend Michelle reminded me, God’s provision, His enough, His name even–Jehovah Jireh–all point back to Him!  That God Himself will be seen.  When Jesus divided the young boy’s lunch and fed thousands, God was SEEN. So I have stopped praying for His provision.  I have prayed only that He may be seen.  As I unfold this story before you, friends, I pray that God will be not only SEEN, but known by His act of bending low to feed each of us.

Our Four "Impossibles"I began with hope for children.  I sowed that hope deep in prayer.  I watered that hope with my own tears.  He brought forth FOUR of our own. We do not take God’s SEEN-NESS lightly. Daily, we seek to teach them more and more of the character of our GREAT GOD.

…the God who LOVES.

…the God who LIVES.

…the GOD who DOES the impossible.

…the GOD who seeks to engraft us ALL into His Story.

I will write more of this story on Friday…I daresay it will take a few posts to get it all in. Stay tuned, ’cause you do not want to miss the WONDER of our BIG GOD!

This story is a continuation of Michelle’s story that she shares here and here…a story about how our painting came to be and why.

With eyes wide-open in amazement,

Holly winter2012

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When Grace is the Only Thing Needed

December 29, 2012 By
Grace

GraceThe past few weeks have been full up with opportunities for me to show a little or a lot of grace.  And I will tell you what, though one might think I am sweet-natured and gentle-tempered, I am not.  In fact, really no one is.  We are all a bunch of live wires ready to go off–just let the electricity go off for four days or a stomach flu that goes through your family of six, one at a time, and see what happens.  We find that we are not grace-givers…but we are surely ALL grace-needers.

A hug that is not returned…

A gift that is spurned…

A call that is more about digging for gossip than concern…

A friend, who should bring blessing, but rather burns…

A debt left unpaid…

A thousand smiles with no smile in exchange…

A kindness left unnoticed…

A thousand times a thousand carrying out the same task with no thanks at all…

And we have a choice. Get even or remember a thousand times a thousand, Jesus says to forgive. I call that grace.

We need much grace for the times we have been offenders. And don’t believe for one second that a day passes and we have not in some way offended–by what we do or say intentionally or sub-consciously unaware. It is our modus operendi.  We are OFFENDERS!

We need to give much grace for the times we are offended. That’s part of it.  Unmerited favor goes unearned. Oh, but the rewards for giving grace?  Now that is different altogether.  There is RICHNESS to be found in the giving of grace.

We have peace in our hearts.

We can live from a place of JOY.

We can sing a song of HOPE.

We can hear a sermon or read a book that helps and not think–wow, they need to read THIS!

We can live out of the abundant, exceedingly abundant, resources of God.

And I don’t know about you, but I would not trade all the JUSTICE in the world for a shaker full of grace. For I have needed it in a “fiscal cliff” kind of way.  And God has given it…and given it…and given it.  I am glad for the justice I did not get.

Perhaps my hugs and gifts went unreceived and unappreciated…my heart wrenched in pain…my reaching out was ignored…my hard stuff went through an archaeological dig for someone else’s pleasure…I felt gutted and cored. YET, this I call to mind…and this I remember–

my Jesus went through more than I could ever imagine to grant ME grace. And I will give it.  And give it.  And give it again. I will trust and try and forgive again.  For grace has been my given.  Therefore, I shall give it.

Holly winter2012

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The Game Changer

May 29, 2012 By
The Game Changer

Pilate himself asked this question, ”What is truth?” in John 18:38.  It was his frustrated retort to Christ’s statement before it. Pilate was caught between–ready to pardon Jesus and yet politically stuck.  You see, the thing about Jesus is this–no matter how strong your armor of resolve may be, Jesus has come to put you face-to-face with this word called TRUTH–and not the word only, but the Person, the One who says, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.”

Jesus is the Truth. The Word made flesh. He has come to stand between us and our altered definitions (…like what do you mean by is? What is the definition of is? Thank you, Mr. Clinton, for being a prime example of the legal twistings of definitions to try to get off the hook) and our re-routes to happiness (…happiness that does not last longer than a moment. But I guess we felt secure in our glass house–before the stone was thrown). Jesus has come to defy anyone, who believes they have a corner on truth–for He OWNS it.

Now I am a bit argumentative–stubborn even.  Often, I keep it to myself.  But for this purpose, I cannot. Call me Pollyanna or whatever you may, but I believe all things are possible.  Oh now, you just read that one too quickly.  Go back and digest it. ALL THINGS are POSSIBLE. Taking it even further, I believe that because Jesus is TRUTH, that He can take anything we see with our mortal eyes and take it beyond what the greatest minds and highest experts in the field might say.

For instance, a doctor might say, “This is it.  This is all you can expect of your healing.” But I defy that statement in the name of Jesus.  My Jesus is the one calling all the shots. He makes what seems to be impossible, possible. Perhaps that healing may occur after death, sure–but often, those words seem like a cop-out to me.  That will not stop me from believing that my God, who does things that are TOO HARD for us, is able to change the plan NOW in His way and in His time. He owns that, too and is not limited at all by it!

Honestly, I pray that way.  I pray defying the rulers and authorities and experts.  I pray with respect to these, but believing and knowing that my God is bigger than all their opinions.  Their opinions are just that.  His Word spoken, accomplishes–and makes a way where there was no known way that our eyes could see, minds could conceive or ears could hear.

Because I pray that way, I have seen miracles happen! He is SO VERY WORTHY. I wish we could talk over coffee about them–for they are the sacred things I could never just write here.  Face-to-face with a friend, I could tell you the wonders that my God has done! Even then, I could not give them the justice or HIM the Holiness, which He deserves, with my fallible tongue. He will tell them all one day–and we can only be undone and fall face down in reverence.

So I dare you.  I dare you to say as those three in the fires said (from Daniel 3):

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered King Nebuchadnezzar, “Your threat means nothing to us. If you throw us in the fire, the God we serve can rescue us from your roaring furnace and anything else you might cook up, O king. But even if he doesn’t, it wouldn’t make a bit of difference, O king. We still wouldn’t serve your gods or worship the gold statue you set up.”

Oh now, that adds another element to this game-changer I am talking about…the first is believing that Jesus is the Truth and He defines it.  The second is what these men spoke and how.  They spoke staking their life on the fact that God is not only the Truth, but that He is worthy of all their trust.  And what did God do?  Well, read Daniel 3 and see…God made the impossible, possible.  That is my God–leaving no smell of smoke and no evidence of the flame. Oh joy!

I don’t know what you are facing this day.  But I challenge you to believe that God’s TRUTH cancels out the opinions of the masses.  I challenge you to stake your life on the fact that Jesus is indeed worthy of all your trust.  And finally, I challenge you to rejoice–CELEBRATE!~–over the fact that God is the One, who makes all things possible.  Rejoice in Jesus. Delight in Him!  It is a safe-keeping for you (Philippians 3).

Before I close read these words carefully.  These are the Living Word’s words–the Truth Who spoke to Pilate with a heart of love for him, who was so caught in the trappings of this world.

John 8:37 (The Message)

Then Pilate said, “So, are you a king or not?”

Jesus answered, “You tell me. Because I am King, I was born and entered the world so that I could witness to the truth. Everyone who cares for truth, who has any feeling for the truth, recognizes my voice.”

Read it again and then pray with me:

King Jesus, You are the Truth. Help me to recognize Your voice of truth and to hear You.  May I see, as You see.  Help me to conceive how to pray for my impossible situations.  Then, Lord, I ask for you to give me the ability to trust You.  You are Worthy, Lord.  I delight in You.  My heart rejoices in hope!  For You are my Game-Changer.  I thank You, Lord Jesus.  Amen.

With Belief in God for His Possible Answers to all my Impossibles,

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Straight Out Of My Journal…

June 6, 2011 By
100_2592

I think we all have this idea, this goal, this vision of what we want our life to look like. But life never really works out that way.

Robert Burns wrote a poem about it. John Steinbeck took that poem and wrote a book about it. “Even the best laid schemes of mice and men go awry.”

A wrench always gets thrown into our plans, no matter how perfect those plans seem to be. It’s just a fact of life. And it’s a fact of life that keeps me from wanting to do things in life. Nothing goes according to plan, and I’m trying to decide if it’s worth it anyway.

I have all these great intentions, all these plans and things I really wish would work out, but life circumstances are making these plans seem impossible. God seems silent. Everything just keeps getting worse.

Last night I went to church with my friends, and the message was really relevant. I sometimes dislike when that happens, because lately I’m always trying to find reasons to be bitter and uninterested. But the pastor talked about how when we decide to follow Jesus, our lives get better, not easier. There’s a difference. And a lot of us (myself included) are ready to throw in the towel on this whole Christianity thing because life has actually gotten harder since following Jesus.

But, he said, we don’t need to have faith when things are going well. We need faith when life is in shambles and we can’t see what God is doing. Hebrews 11:1 says that faith is confidence in what we hope for an assurance about what we do not see.

Christianity is and always has been about trusting that Jesus is who he says he is, even in the face of persecution, oppression, uncertainty.

It’s not that I left church with some kind of epiphany. It’s not like stuff is suddenly better. I get the point though, I do. And I’m processing it. Sometimes, that’s all we can do.

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Yet

February 21, 2011 By
fray rope 2

“Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise the LORD.” Psalm 102:18

Over five years ago today, I didn’t know it. The farthest thing from my mind was having another child. But I was expecting a baby girl. I was probably about two weeks pregnant. I wondered why all the normal holiday foods sounded so very gross. I had purchased the materials for so much baking. I did none. I wouldn’t know that I was expecting a baby until after Christmas-time. For the first time in all our expectations, I was completely and utterly surprised. By the time I had visited the doctor, I would be over a quarter of the way there.

 

We had moved to Colorado with hopes for the future God was carving out. We had suffered loss like death, but no one had died. We still suffer from that alive-like death. So a part of me was really hurting. Another part was hopeful and trusting. And another part? A surprise in the making was taking place, a weaving, if you will.

 

I look at her today and see a balm of healing. All of my children bring me such joy. But our surprise package delivered in Colorado over 4 1/2 years ago is truly a fragrant gift that God used to repair a torn soul.

So today, I think upon the words above…that a people not yet created may praise the Lord. Not yet, but coming. Not yet, but expecting to see our testimony written, so that they may praise the Lord.

 

We are in a “yet” moment. So I decided to look up yet in the Bible. Read through them with me. See if you are in a “yet” moment and write down the testimony that God is shaping in your life. Take hope in the fact that yet also points to God’s YES. It is a tiny word that is packed with power and hope.

 

One thing God has been speaking over my heart lately is about time and Him. He has been reminding me that He is not bound by time.  He is already waiting for us at a time of celebration and a time of mourning. He is in the “yet” moment. He created it. I praise Him for it–in advance!

 

2 Corinthians 4:16
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.

 

2 Corinthians 6:7-10
in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

 

2 Corinthians 8:9
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.

 

Philippians 3:13
Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,

 

Philippians 4:14
Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles.

 

2 Timothy 1:12
That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.

 

1 John 3:2
Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

 

Revelation 3:8
I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.

 

John 11:6
Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.

 

John 16:13
But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.

 

John 20:29
Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

 

Romans 4:20
Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God.

 

Romans 8:25
But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

 

Habakkuk 3:18
yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.

 

Matthew 6:26
Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

 

Lamentations 3:21
Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope

 

Psalm 42:5-6a
Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.

 

Psalm 73:23
Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand.

 

Job 8:21
He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy.

 

Psalm 22:3
Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel.

 

Have any of these verses resonated with you today? For the final verse says it all…in every struggle, every trial, every time without hope…YET the LORD, the Holy One, the praise of Israel, yet He is on the throne.

 

He is working on our behalf. He is watching. He is timing it just right. He is orchestrating a symphony of the ages. And we? We get to be a part of His music.

 

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