Working On A Building

Lately I have been watching some folks build a building. They started with the foundation and then build outwards. These men have been diligently working on this building now for several weeks and have now got it all framed in and to me it looks quite ugly because what I am looking at is the strength of the building and not the beauty.

 We all know that when the building crew finishes, then the exterior guys will show up to finish what they call the facade. The exterior, what we all will look at and say oh that is a pretty building. After that facade goes up we will no longer be able to see what is on the inside, the strength that makes the building be able to withstand hard storms and the day to day beating of the sun and the wind. We don't see that part because it has now been covered up with the pretty part, the part that everyone wants to see.

Isn't that the way it is in life as well? People want to look on the outside of a strong person and say oh wow! she really has it together, she never seems to sweat or have hard times and if he/she does they really are STRONG!!! That is because they are just looking on the outside, they don't understand what has been built in, on the inside the strength that only comes from the maker, the original designer, the Holy Spirit of God that builds that foundation of truth upon the word of the living God. The word tells us that if the Lord isn't building the house then the ones that are building it are laboring in vain. To be able to withstand the storms of life and to be able to bear good fruit for the Lord, I must allow Him to build my house. Allow Him to furnish it as He sees fit that will bring the most honor and glory to Him.

I'm not too prideful to admit that although I had a really good foundation from Him, I have tried in the past to build my house and do it my way and then when the storms came, it wasn't a pretty sight. He has even had to send in the demolition crew on me a couple of times and tear the building all the way down to the foundation and start back over again. I believe the old-timers called that going back and doing your first works again. Nevertheless now I am allowing Him to build my building inside and out. These days I am for sure more concerned with the fruit that I bear more than I am about the gifts that He gives. I am working on cultivating as much good fruit for Him as I can. I want Him to look at my house and say well built and Wow look at all of those fruit trees!

There's an old bluegrass song called working on a building and I have sang it many many times and loved it all of these years and although at times it may seem repetitious, if you let it minister to you, you will be able to understand that the old timey folks sure had a much better grip on this building thing than we seem to today. Check out this version from YouTube:  Bill Monroe from back in the day.          https://youtu.be/wM3GICtYNAo  I pray today as you are working on your building for the Lord that you consider the fruit trees out front in the yard. They sure do get a whole lot of attention to folks and make them want to work on their building too.

Tears For Rain

 
Psalm 126:5 tell us that they that sow in tears, will reap in joy. The word also tells us in Psalm 56:8 You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book. So..... me being the thinker that I am, I got to thinking about these 2 scriptures and said to myself well if God collects our tears and He does and they that sow in tears shall reap in joy, and they do then I think that our tears could be stored up for when we are in those dry and weary places and He just says let me pour out some rain (tears) because you dear child are now traveling through a dry and dusty place on this journey. 

Apposed to what some T.V. ministers will teach you every day is not your best day and every day is not all joyous and full of wonderful surprises and happiness and love and joy. That is just not true and the word does not bear it out to be true. There are times that we will go through places on our spiritual walk with the Lord that it is just as dry and parched as it can be and we are saying oh Lord help me!!! I need the rain, send down the rain, send down the rain, open the floodgates of Heaven and let it rain. Don't we sing these type of worship songs? But for some reason people still buy into this every day is just a bag full of roses gospel and it is just not so, we find many stories in the word that lets us know that some days are just plain ole tough and it is just us and the Lord and in the midst of these times we may feel lost and alone.

There is a story in the word that tells of the children of Israel after they had left Egypt and were Canaan bound. It's just a little seemingly insignificant story to some but it struck me as quite profound. The story is found in Exodus 15,the story of the bitter waters of Marah. Now God had led them this way and they get here after 3 days without water only to discover that the water is so bitter that they cannot drink it at all. Now wait a minute, am I to understand this? God led them this way? Why? Why in the world would the Lord God lead them this way knowing all along that the waters were bitter? That just don't seem right. Doesn't sound like most of the teaching/preaching I hear so much of but it still is the truth. Sometimes God will lead you through a circumstance that is just bad but He knows that you will come out stronger on the other side. What is so funny to me about this is that earlier in this same chapter they are singing and dancing before the Lord because He had destroyed their enemies and now they are beginning to grumble and gripe because the waters are bitter. Like the same God that had just destroyed their enemies couldn't make the bitter waters sweet?

Isn't that just like us? Oh we love us some Jesus as long as everything is going along just fine. As long as we are healthy and well and wise. As long as our bills are all paid and we are prospering, we are just the happy little followers of Jesus but as soon as we hit a major bump or curve in the road we fall to the wayside like a spoiled child that didn't get there way. The Israelites were no different, I can assure you. They grumbled and griped constantly about any of a number of things but in this particular story it was the water but what did God in His gracious way do for them? He turned the bitter waters to sweet.

What I am saying today is this. When we are only following Jesus when things are going good and we are happy and well, then are we true followers? But, when we follow Him through the dessert places and we follow Him when the waters are bitter and we follow Him when our finances are out of wack and when our bodies are hurting and when our kids are not acting right and we follow Him through it all, then that says to a lost and dying world that we are true followers and there really must be something to this Jesus stuff. When they see us in the midst of the storm keeping our cool and with unwavering faith hanging on to the only one that can help us through it, when we are happy no matter what our circumstances then and only then are we truly being a shining light to a lost and dying world.

The Apostle Paul wrote 2/3 of the New Testament and most of it was penned from a jail cell. He said these words Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice. From a jail cell he wrote that and meant every word. He also said in Philippians 4:12
I know both how to have a little, and I know how to have a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content--whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. From a jail cell he said these and many other things and here we are well fed, with a roof over our heads, clothes to wear and not once have we been stoned, left for dead, and beaten. Not once. We are wimps in comparison to the Bible saints, to say the very least. We have bought into this comfortable Christianity that says as long as you say the right things, you will get the right things and as long as you have the faith you will always prosper and have lots of money. But see the word doesn't tell us that. The word, in fact, does say I would that you prosper even as your soul prospers. Noone wants to talk about the prosperity of the spirit or soul, just the physical prosperity that brings riches and land and honor and prestige, power and titles.

Of course I am not excited, elated or thrilled to be the next in line to suffer but I do live with a reality that lets me know that in a fallen and sinful world there are times that I will and I still have a wonderful and mighty God that is in complete and total control of all of it and He loves me enough to capture my tears in a bottle for a day that I need rain.

Getting Perspective

Lately so many different things have tried to overwhelm me. I allowed myself to become frustrated with situations, people and the presence of sickness and ailments in my body. I had, shall we say, lost my perspective. I had forgotten, if only for a moment, that I am seated in Heavenly places with Christ Jesus. Which means that from that Heavenly perspective I have dominion and authority over the things that try so hard to overwhelm and overcome me.

When we try to sit in a place that wasn't designed for us to sit, we become frustrated at best and lose our God given perspective. For instance, if I am seated on the floor, although I am an extremely large and tall woman, I feel very small and insignificant while I am on the floor. Even a small child could walk past me and drop something on my head and it would harm me because I am seated somewhere that I don't belong. Likewise when we allow ourselves to become dislodged or displaced, our perspective changes and we begin to feel overpowered, overwhelmed, insignificant and at times we may even feel completely unnecessary in the grand scheme of things.

The Lord has been speaking to me about perspective for quite a while now. Getting me to even move furniture around in my own little tiny apartment to get a different perspective or outlook. I had been complaining that there wasn't enough light in the apartment and that I couldn't grow anything and it was depressing and dark and the Lord said change your perspective. Do what you can in the natural. So I actually changed the furniture around and moved my desk to the other end of the apartment by the window and now I can look out the window while I write. I live on the third floor so needless to say, there is a completely different perspective from the third floor while looking out the window. Much better than before. When my desk was at the other end of the apartment. Yes it was still in front of a window but all you could see at best, if the curtains were opened was a wall and maybe a noisy neighbor or two LOL.

I am one of those people that just has to have music, light, plants and animals. I adore living things. I love to grow things, to create things, to cook and to feed folks. I had actually allowed myself to get depressed living in this tiny apartment with no access to grow anything or to have much light coming into the apartment. I have now changed my perspective and have learned to compensate for what was lacking. I have extremely bright colors in my apartment, which is part of my personality yes but it also helps to lighten things up in here. Sometimes when problems arise we allow ourselves to forget who we are in Christ Jesus we lose our perspective. We forget that we are the head and not the tail, that we are above ONLY and not beneath. That we indeed are seated in Heavenly places with Christ Jesus and that He loves us with an everlasting love and has us on His mind continually.

When you are overcoming a people-pleaser mentality, as I am sometimes you forget who you are and try to be who everyone wants you to be. Let me just say one word about that: STOP!!!! God has created you in His likeness and in His image and you don't have to be like anyone else at all. He has created you with your own brand of uniqueness and with your own special qualities, talents and abilities. Love who you are, love who He created you to be. Get some perspective.

Today if you are feeling overwhelmed, or are feeling burned out or frustrated just remember your Heavenly Father has you on His seating chart in Heaven. All you have to do is take your seat and use your God given authority and dominion and rise above any and all obstacles that might be trying to hinder your goal or destiny.There is only one you and only you can fill your seat.

The Life and times of a people pleaser

 
For the last few weeks I have isolated myself on purpose to get closer to the Father and to let Him heal me physically and in every way. I have cut off facebook, actually deactivated my account, have cut some life-sucking people out of my life and I can't even express how much better I feel and how much more productive I have been. I have been a people-pleaser for most of my life and I am just now truly feeling that it is ok for me to say "NO" and not feel bad about it. In the past I would always do whatever my friends or family wanted or expected me to do. Of course that was wonderful for them, but not so good for me.

I am learning that it is ok to love myself, it is also ok to pamper myself. To make sure that there are fresh flowers in the house, to make sure that the things that I love to eat and to cook are here and not to care what others think about how I decorate my apartment, what I wear or how I choose to wear my hair. Lord have mercy, it has literally taken a lifetime to come to these realizations and now here I am 54 years old and just now no longer struggling with these things.

Why? why did it take me so long? Why in the world would a person feel the need to put their own needs and desires to the side and feel the need to make sure that everyone in the room is happy, except for me? Why? well it started at a very early age. Trying to keep everyone from arguing, I would dance and sing and tell jokes and do just about anything to keep everyone happy. This formed a very bad pattern, needless to say and hence just now realizing that I am ok without all of that drama in my life.

I really don't have to be where I am just tolerated, I can go and be with people that celebrate me just me, for being me and for no other reason. Being around people that just want to be around me because I am good company and am a very interesting person. Not so I will do something for them or give something to them. I have had good friends for years try to tell me that I didn't have to please anyone but the Father and myself and I would hear them and nod and keep right on doing my same ole dysfunctional junk to keep the ball rolling.

I am finally to a place with the Father that as long as He is pleased with me, I am super happy and couldn't care less what others think. I have been just super soaking in worship music and the word and good books and just doing what I want to do. Cooking, reading, watching you tube videos, playing with my little dog and just enjoying being with the Father. Noone else needed or wanted at this time for that matter. I am not saying that I don't love people, because I do love people but I have had to let a whole bunch of folks go out of my life in order to maintain a peaceful existence and keep my sanity.

As a minister it is hard at best to be able to have peace in your life if you don't put boundaries around people. They always step too far into your personal space. Calling, texting and messaging at all hours of the night, never realizing that you need sleep and rest just like they do. They feel, I supposed, if they are up everyone should be up. I have tolerated this type of behavior out of folks for quite some time now and I am finally putting my foot down and putting a stop to all of it. I have to get rest, I have to let the Father restore me or I will fall apart. For the last few months I have literally felt like I was having a nervous breakdown because I was trying to please people and to be what others wanted me to be. I finally had to put the breaks on and pull aside and let the Lord minister to me, just to me and restore my weary soul.

I feel so much better now and will be making even further changes to bring order, peace and happiness to my own life. As soon as my health is better, I am going to start traveling and just soaking up the Father's great creation. He is so good and there are so many places that I have never seen and I am going to enjoy my life while there is still some life left to enjoy. We are not promised tomorrow and I have spent far too too too much time making everyone but me happy. Now it is time for me to please me. 

Being Still

The verse most quoted when a person is feeling frustrated or finds themselves in a place of indecision, stress, or transition is Psalm 46:10 Be still and know that I am God. This verse is so easily quoted but not as easily implemented into our own lives. The knowing that He is God part doesn't seem to be the problem at all, it's the being still part that really sticks it to us. Right in our flesh. We live in a fast paced society that wants to microwave everything, have instant gratification, and fast growing everything. Children are not taught delayed gratification like saving for that bike and paying it out slowly making it all the more of a treasure when it is finally all there's. I know folks that don't even want to cook something if it involves more than just a few ingredients because, "Oh, that is just too much trouble." Well...here is what I am going to tell ya, anything that is worth having is worth waiting for.

God brings those be still moments into our lives because in the quiet and the still He can more readily teach us something, or reveal things to us. When we are in constant motion, talking, planning, organizing and trying to just fit in quiet time with Him, our lives run off course very badly. But, it's when we take that time to say ok Father, I am here. I am alone with you, I am just going to thank you and praise you and worship you and just sit here with you and be quiet and listen..........................listen for your still small voice and receive whatever it is that you want me to have. Those moments are growth moments, those moments are perfecting patience moments and they are imperative to the Christian walk, if we expect to walk in integrity and in maturity.

The word tells us that we are seated in Heavenly places with Christ Jesus, which speaks to me of perspective. When we consider ourselves from the viewpoint of being seated in Heaven, we are sitting above the problem or circumstance and can get clarity, wisdom and understanding about how to handle a situation. Some situations that we find ourselves in seem impossible, but when we take time to be still and realize that we are joint heirs with Christ Jesus and seated in a place of honor with Him and that He is in complete and total control, it is then that we can gain that much needed Heavenly perspective and take our hands off of the situation and just watch how He does what He does. We can then basically just be still and let Him be God.

Sounds so simple doesn't it? Why then are we wrestling day in and day out with every little aggravation that comes our way? I say no more! During this physical down time for me I have for sure gained a much needed new perspective from the Lord and have sure enough been able to just chill, and calmly watch as He is God and does what needs to be done in each and every situation. Now mind you I am not saying for us to sit on the stool of do nothing and become lazy complacent and not move a finger but what I am saying is, to do like the word says when you have done all to stand, then stand! God is the one that causes the seasons to change, God is the one who causes the seeds to sprout and to grow to full fruition, God is our defender, healer, deliver, strong tower, protector, savior and Lord, He is everything that we need and is in full control of all things.

I am learning more each and every day how to just be still. So peaceful really..........just being quiet and listening to his voice. Listening for the answer for any problem, listening for any instructions that He might have for me. Such a peaceful life in comparison to rushing around trying to fix things on my own. Some times He has to pull me aside and say hey sit down right here and let me talk with you, I sure am glad that I listened. Now I crave the quiet times, I am eager to go into the secret place and have an audience with my Heavenly Father, He is a good Father and has good gifts. I never walk away empty handed, He always gives me something but first.......I must be still and just know that He is God and has it all under control..................